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B+History
History · Springville

Springville’s post office opened in 1834, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #38 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 139 buildings. Most of Springville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.

1834first post office
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Springville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Springville began

When was Springville founded?

1834

The Springville post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 185 in 18802020 census: 4,786192 years

How historic is Springville?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Springville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Springville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Springville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #38 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Springville’s overall grade.
Founding era1834, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19402.3% of homes (±2.4) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 140 historic buildings, 276 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 80%

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 Springville’s 276 sits above most of its state (92% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 140 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Springville’s past

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

A historic districtThe Springville Historic District takes in 139 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Springville.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 140 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
140
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Presley Store
Presley StoreSpringville Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Commercial Style1
Presley StoreBuilding
Springville Historic DistrictLate Victorian

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

Help out

Start Springville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Springville’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 viewAL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 8: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Springville, 1834 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Springville post office opens
  3. 1888Born hereHank Patterson is born here
  4. 1890Born hereAubrey Willis Williams is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920Born hereArtie Wilson is born here
  7. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1964In the archiveAL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 8
  9. 1997Born hereCasey Mize is born here
The story so far

Springville, in brief

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

Springville is a city in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in December 1880. At the 2020 census the population was 4,786, up from 4,080 in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,080 to 4,786 (+17%).

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

By decade

Springville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s1 item
AL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 81964AL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 8
1970s–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
Today2 recent
Hardwick02 - Flickr - Adam Arthur2004Hardwick02 - Flickr - Adam ArthurALMap-doton-Springville2004ALMap-doton-Springville
On the map

Springville on the map, 1958 to 1975

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

Springville on the 1958 USGS mapSpringville on the 1975 USGS map1958Springville 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 Springville.

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.

AL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 8
Retake this viewAL 2 I59 FHWA 1964 8, 1964

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Springville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000188019001920194019601980200020204,786

Grew from 185 people in 1880 to 4,786 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Springville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Hank PattersonAmerican actor and musician · b. 1888
Casey MizeAmerican baseball player · b. 1997
A
Artie WilsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1920
Aubrey Willis WilliamsAmerican activist · b. 1890
D
Don KeithUS author · b. 1947
G
Gordon HolmesAll-Southern college footballer · b. 1905
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Springville’s post office has been open since 1834.

Gone or out of use
Spring Lake Collegeschool
1cemetery inside Springville
Fuller

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

OdenvilleIts storyDArgoIts storyD−

Questions about Springville’s history

What year was Springville founded?

The Springville post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Springville rank for history?

Springville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Springville?

Two places: the Presley Store (listed 1983) and the Springville Historic District (1997).

How old are the homes in Springville?

2% of Springville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1998.

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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.