Most of Rogersville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Rogersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rogersville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rogersville is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rogersville’s overall grade.
Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rogersville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Rogersville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The town became an incorporated municipality on February 2, 1858. Originally known as "Rodgersville", it took its name from Andrew and Patience Rodgers of South Carolina who moved into the area and purchased 79.8 acres (323,000 m2) at a public land sale in Huntsville on May 3, 1818. Their land eventually became what is now the downtown business district. When the Rogersville Post Office was established on October 4, 1825, with Thomas Cunningham as the postmaster, the 'd' was dropped from the town's name and it has been known as Rogersville ever since.
The Rogersville post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Rogersville rank for history?
Rogersville is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Rogersville?
4% of Rogersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1980.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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