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B−History
History · Silverhill

Silverhill dates to 1897, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #65 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Svea Land Company Office, the People's Supply Company and the State Bank Silverhill. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1981 on, and the census since 1930.

1897founded
3on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Silverhill’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Silverhill began

When was Silverhill founded?

1897

Silverhill dates its founding to 1897 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 314 in 19302020 census: 768129 years

How historic is Silverhill?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Silverhill’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Silverhill is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #65 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Silverhill’s overall grade.
Founding era1897, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.7% of homes (±7.4) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register3 listings, 34.8 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 66%

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 Silverhill’s 34.8 sits above most of its state (73% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±7.4 points). Two sources give 1897.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Silverhill’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Silverhill’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNOLF Silverhill 1952: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Silverhill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Silverhill.

Read it all →

Silverhill was founded in 1897 by Oscar Johnson, C. O. Carlson and C. A. Valentin of Chicago, Illinois. Oscar Johnson was an immigrant from Dalarna, Sweden. The Svea Land Company in Chicago, which advertised land for sale in Silverhill, was founded by Oscar Johnson. Land was acquired by purchase from a Mr. Harford, the first block of land being 1,500 acres (610 ha), which was added to from time to time as the colonization work progressed. Scandinavian settlers came to Silverhill from virtually every state in the Union and began the development of what is now the Silverhill district.

In 1902, the local general store, People's Supply Company opened; and it served as a major hub for the community until the 1980s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Silverhill, 1897 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897
    FoundingSilverhill is established
  3. 1897BuiltSvea Land Company Office is built
  4. 1899Post officeThe Silverhill post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902BuiltPeople's Supply Company is built
  7. 1952In the archiveNOLF Silverhill 1952
  8. 1981On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Silverhill, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
NOLF Silverhill 19521952NOLF Silverhill 1952
1960s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
Wales West Light Railway station2016Wales West Light Railway stationWales West Light Railway full train2016Wales West Light Railway full trainWales West Light Railway crossing sign2016Wales West Light Railway crossing signSteam tank locomotive Dame Ann releasing steam2016Steam tank locomotive Dame Ann releasing steamSteam tank locomotive Dame Ann in Cottontail Express livery2016Steam tank locomotive Dame Ann in Cottontail Express …Simplex builder plate 0022016Simplex builder plate 002Simplex builder plate 0012016Simplex builder plate 001Simplex 40S diesel locomotive Gareth2016Simplex 40S diesel locomotive GarethSimplex 40S diesel locomotive Gareth name plate2016Simplex 40S diesel locomotive Gareth name plateSeven inch gauge miniature rideable railroad2016Seven inch gauge miniature rideable railroadRoyal Mail letterbox in2016Royal Mail letterbox inNarrow gauge railway switches2016Narrow gauge railway switchesSteam Locomotive Dame Ann2015Steam Locomotive Dame AnnMotor Rail Ltd. Simplex S40 Gareth2015Motor Rail Ltd. Simplex S40 GarethExmoor Steam Railway builder's plate2004Exmoor Steam Railway builder's plate
On the map

Silverhill on the map in 1981

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Silverhill.

Silverhill on the 1981 USGS map1981Bay Minette sheet · 1:100,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

NOLF Silverhill 1952
Retake this viewNOLF Silverhill 1952, 1952

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Silverhill’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Silverhill

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Svea Land Company Office
Svea Land Company Office, built 1897People's Supply Company, built 1902State Bank Silverhill
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Free Standing Gable Front Store1
Classical Revival1
Craftsman1
Svea Land Company OfficeBuilt 1897
People's Supply CompanyFree Standing Gable Front Store · Built 1902
State Bank SilverhillClassical Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Silverhill, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020768

Grew from 314 people in 1930 to 768 in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Silverhill

Nobody well known was born in Silverhill itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tim CookAmerican business executive, former Apple execu… · b. 1960
Lloyd J. Austin IIIUnited States 28th Secretary of Defense · b. 1953
Hank AaronAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
Laverne CoxAmerican actress and LGBT advocate · b. 1972
G
Gregory BenfordScience fiction author and astrophysicist · b. 1941
DeMarcus CousinsAmerican basketball player · b. 1990

Questions about Silverhill’s history

What year was Silverhill founded?

In 1897, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Silverhill’s post office opened in 1899, and the census of 1930 counted 314 people here.

How does Silverhill rank for history?

Silverhill is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #65 of 187 in Alabama. 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.

What is on the National Register in Silverhill?

Three places: the Svea Land Company Office (listed 1985), the People's Supply Company (1997) and the State Bank Silverhill (2001).

How old are the homes in Silverhill?

12% of Silverhill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1992.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.