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History · Silas

Silas’ post office opened in 1881

Most of Silas was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1974 on and the census since 1950.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Silas began

When was Silas founded?

1881

The Silas post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 383 in 19502020 census: 377145 years
Founding year: the first Silas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Silas’ 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 Silas are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 529 in 2000; 377 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Silas’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Silas’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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People over time

Silas, census by census

01002003004005001960198020002020Peak: 529

Peaked at 529 in 2000; 377 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

The story so far

Silas, in brief

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

Silas is a town in Choctaw County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 377. The town was struck by a tornado on March 17, 2021. The tornado downed trees and inflicted minor damage to outbuildings and homes at EF1 strength. It reached EF2 strength well northeast of town and injured two people.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 452 to 377 (-17%).

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

Timeline

Silas, 1881 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Silas post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1921Post officeThe Bolinger post office opens
  5. 1971Born hereTravis Pearson is born here
  6. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 529
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Silas on the map, 1974 to 1986

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

Silas on the 1974 USGS mapSilas on the 1986 USGS map1974Silas 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 Silas.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Silas’s post office has been open since 1881.

Silas
1881–today
Bolinger
1921–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bolinger
1cemetery inside Silas
Spring Bank

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

Questions about Silas’ history

What year was Silas founded?

The Silas post office opened in 1881, 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 →
Start a conversation
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 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) 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.