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History · Sanford

Sanford’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Sanford was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1910.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Sanford began

When was Sanford founded?

1879

The Sanford post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 742 in 19102020 census: 257147 years
Founding year: the first Sanford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sanford’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sanford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sanford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sanford’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Sanford, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sanford yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sanford is a town in Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 257. Sanford was originally incorporated in 1902 and was on the 1910 U.S. Census. It did not appear again on the census until 1960.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 241 to 257 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Sanford, 1879 to 1971

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Sanford post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1966Post officeThe Sanford post office closes
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Sanford on the map, 1971 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sanford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sanford on the 1971 USGS mapSanford on the 1986 USGS map1971Andalusia sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sanford.

People over time

Sanford, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 742

Between 241 and 742 people in every census since 1910.

8 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sanford’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Sanford had its own post office from 1879 to 1966.

Sanford
1879–1966
18701950today
1cemetery inside Sanford
First Baptist Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Sanford’s history

What year was Sanford founded?

The Sanford post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.