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History · St. Stephens

St. Stephens’ post office opened in 1818, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of St. Stephens was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Washington County Courthouse. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1818 on.

1818first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How St. Stephens began

When was St. Stephens founded?

1818

The St. Stephens post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 415208 years
Founding year: the first St. Stephens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about St. Stephens’ 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.Deep rootsA post office since 1818: 208 years of St. Stephens.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Stephens’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

St. Stephens, 1818 to 1822

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818In the archiveFort Montgomery, Alabama
  3. 1818Post officeThe Saint Stephens post office opens
  4. 1822Born hereIsrael Victor Welch is born here
The story

How St. Stephens came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Stephens.

Read it all →

Old St. Stephens was situated on a limestone bluff that the Native Americans called Hobucakintopa. It was located at a point on the Tombigbee River where rocky shoals ended navigation for boats traveling north from Mobile, 67 miles to the south. As early as 1772, British surveyor Bernard Romans noted that "sloops and schooners may come up to this rapid; therefore, I judge some considerable settlement will take place."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

St. Stephens, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1810s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1810s1 item
Fort Montgomery, Alabama1818Fort Montgomery, AlabamaDocument
Today5 recent
Indian baths at Old St. Stephens Park2010Indian baths at Old St. Stephens ParkIndian baths at Old St. Stephens Park2010Indian baths at Old St. Stephens ParkOld St. Stephens Park2010Old St. Stephens ParkOld St. Stephens Park2010Old St. Stephens ParkOld St. Stephens Park2010Old St. Stephens Park
On the National Register

1 historic place in St. Stephens

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Washington County Courthouse
Washington County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Free-Standing Gable Front1
Washington County CourthouseFree-Standing Gable Front

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, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint StephensWilson
Gone or out of use
Cowans LandinglocaleGardys LandinglocaleGopher LandinglocaleOld Saint StephenslocalePelham LandinglocaleSaint Stephens Junior High SchoolschoolSaint Stephens Landinglocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Stephens
CrawfordFaithOld Saint StephensSaint Stephens

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

Questions about St. Stephens’ history

What year was St. Stephens founded?

The St. Stephens post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in St. Stephens?

One place: the Washington County Courthouse (listed 1997).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.