Most of Shelby was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1880.
The Shelby post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Shelby Court House (1822) and Shelby Iron Works (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 567 in 18802020 census: 940138 years
Founding year: the first Shelby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Shelby’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Shelby’s post office has been open since 1888. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Shelby Court House
1822–1827
Shelby Iron Works
1870–1888
Shelby
1888–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kewahatchie
Gone or out of use
Pleasant Grove ChurchchurchWares Furnacelocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shelby
BrasherOld ShelbyShelby Garden of RestWilliams
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Shelby on the map, 1909 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shelby. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Columbiana sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shelby.
Every building
Shelby, building by building, 1905–1923
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1905Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Shelby was home to the Shelby Iron Company. During the American Civil War, iron plating from the iron works was used on the CSS Tennessee, CSS Huntsville, and CSS Tuscaloosa. At this time, Shelby was connected to Columbiana by the Shelby Iron Company Railroad, which allowed the iron works to be connected to the Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad. A detachment of General Emory Upton's division of Wilson's Raiders destroyed the ironworks on March 31, 1865.
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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, 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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