History · Talladega

Talladega’s post office opened in 1833, and 8 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #12 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and three historic districts with 175 buildings between them. Most of Talladega was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1850.

1833first post office

8on the National Register

8%homes built before 1940

22famous people

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Quick answers

How Talladega began

When was Talladega founded?

1833

The Talladega post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,320 in 18502020 census: 15,861193 years

How historic is Talladega?

A⁻

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Talladega post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Talladega’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Talladega is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #12 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Talladega’s overall grade.

Founding era1833, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19408.0% of homes (±2.5) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National Register8 listings, 185 historic buildings, 125 per 10,000 residents · typical AL town 2.7 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%

NewerOlder

Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 94%

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 Talladega’s 125 sits above most of its state (85% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 185 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 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 Talladega’s past

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

A historic districtThe Silk Stocking District takes in 120 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Talladega are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then grew more than tenfold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Talladega, and 9 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

8 listings protect 185 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

J. L. M. Curry House

historic buildings protected

185

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

J. L. M. Curry House

BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival3

Queen Anne3

Gothic Revival2

Mid-19th Century2

Neo-Romanesque1

I-House1

★ Landmark

J. L. M. Curry HouseBuilding

★ Landmark

Swayne HallBuilding

BoxwoodGothic Revival · Built 1854

First Presbyterian ChurchNeo-Romanesque

ThornhillMid-19th Century

Talladega College Historic DistrictColonial Revival

All 8 listings

Talladega Courthouse Square Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1972 Silk Stocking DistrictDistrict · listed 1979

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

Help out

Start Talladega’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Talladega’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

People over time

Talladega, census by census

Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then grew more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

The story so far

Talladega, in brief

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

Talladega (, also ) is a city in and the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of one of the state's largest cities, Birmingham. The city is home to the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, Talladega Municipal Airport, and Talladega College, a historically black college. The Talladega Superspeedway, and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame are located nearby. The First National Bank of Talladega (now First Bank of Alabama) is the oldest bank in the State of Alabama, being founded in 1848.

Its first post office opened in 1833. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 15,676 in 2010, 15,861 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Talladega, 1833 to 1991

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

19th century
1833Post officeThe Talladega post office opens
1854BuiltBoxwood is built
1868Born hereWilliam W. Brandon is born here
1898Post officeThe Bledsoe post office closes
20th century
1900Born hereTinsley R. Harrison is born here
1904Born hereEthlyne Clair is born here
1911Born hereGertrude Michael is born here
1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1965LandmarkJ. L. M. Curry House named a National Historic Landmark
1974LandmarkSwayne Hall named a National Historic Landmark
1980CensusPopulation peaks at 19,128
1991Post officeThe Bledsoe post office opens

On the map

Talladega on the map, 1943 to 2001

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

1943Talladega sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Talladega, building by building, 1885–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Talladega fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 2

1885Sheet 2 of 2

Edition

Sheets

+1 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

22 famous people were born in Talladega

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

See all →

Gertrude MichaelAmerican actress · b. 1911

William W. BrandonAmerican politician · b. 1868

Ethlyne ClairAmerican actress · b. 1904

Tinsley R. HarrisonAmerican physician · b. 1900

Bennie SwainAmerican basketball player and trainer · b. 1933

William Manuel JohnsonAmerican double bassist · b. 1872

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Talladega’s post office has been open since 1833. Another post office, Bledsoe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Talladega

1833–today

Bledsoe

1991–1898

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BemistonBreconJonesvilleMcCannsvilleMoorefieldMount Olive CirclePulliamvilleShocco SpringsThornhill

Gone or out of use

Belleview PlantationlocaleBledsoelocaleBledsoe Post Officepost officeFord of Talladega CreekcrossingFort LesliemilitaryFurnace StationlocaleMurphylocaleRedvillelocaleShocco Stationlocale

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Talladega

NeedmoreOak HillPine Hill Memorial ParkThornhill

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

Questions about Talladega’s history

What year was Talladega founded?

The Talladega post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Talladega rank for history?

Talladega is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Talladega?

8 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 5 buildings, among them the J. L. M. Curry House (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), and 3 historic districts, the Talladega College Historic District, the Talladega Courthouse Square Historic District and the Silk Stocking District, with 175 contributing buildings. 185 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Talladega?

8% of Talladega’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 the Library of Congress (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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