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History · Somerville

Somerville’s post office opened in 1819, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Somerville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listings are the Somerville Courthouse and the Green Pryor Rice House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1850.

1819first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Somerville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Somerville began

When was Somerville founded?

1819

The Somerville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 217 in 18502020 census: 796207 years
Founding year: the first Somerville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Somerville’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.Deep rootsA post office since 1819: 207 years of Somerville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Somerville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOld Morgan County Courthouse, Bluff Cit…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Somerville, census by census

02004006008001850190019502000217 in 1850Low: 115

Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.

10 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Timeline

Somerville, 1819 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819Post officeThe Somerville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 796
The story

How Somerville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Somerville.

Read it all →

Somerville was the county seat of Morgan County from 1818 to 1891, when the seat was moved to Decatur. The town was named for Robert M. Summerville, an officer killed in 1814 during the Creek War. Initially incorporated on December 3, 1819, it is a few days older than the state. After its loss of the county seat in the 1890s, its incorporation lapsed. It was reorganized (reincorporated) on December 1, 1955.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Somerville, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Old Morgan County Courthouse, Bluff City RoadDate?Old Morgan County Courthouse, Bluff City RoadRather-Rice-Gilchrist House, Bluff City Road vicinityDate?Rather-Rice-Gilchrist House, Bluff City Road vicinity
Today9 recent
House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 32012House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 3House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 22012House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 2House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 12012House in Somerville, Alabama Feb 2012 1Bama snow 2 0102011Bama snow 2 010Somerville is a town in Morgan County, Alabama2010Somerville is a town in Morgan County, AlabamaSomerville Court House2010Somerville Court HouseSomerville is a town in Morgan County, Alabama2010Somerville is a town in Morgan County, AlabamaSomerville Court House2010Somerville Court HouseALMap-doton-Somerville2004ALMap-doton-Somerville
On the map

Somerville on the map, 1936 to 1983

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

Somerville on the 1936 USGS mapSomerville on the 1951 USGS mapSomerville on the 1983 USGS map1936Somerville 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 Somerville.

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.

Old Morgan County Courthouse, Bluff City Road
Retake this viewOld Morgan County Courthouse, Bluff City Road

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Somerville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Somerville Courthouse
Somerville CourthouseGreen Pryor Rice House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Tidewater Cottage1
Somerville CourthouseFederal
Green Pryor Rice HouseTidewater Cottage

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Somerville’s post office has been open since 1819.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pence
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Somerville
CampbellSomerville

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

Questions about Somerville’s history

What year was Somerville founded?

The Somerville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Somerville?

Two places: the Somerville Courthouse (listed 1972) and the Green Pryor Rice House (1986).

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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.