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History · Union

Union’s post office opened in 1836

Most of Union was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1970.

1836first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Union began

When was Union founded?

1836

The Union post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 231 in 19702020 census: 180190 years
Founding year: the first Union post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Union’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Union are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 358 in 1980; 180 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Union.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Union, census by census

0100200300400198020002020Peak: 358

Peaked at 358 in 1980; 180 people lived here in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Timeline

Union, 1836 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Union post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913Born hereGready McKinnis is born here
  5. 1931Post officeThe Union post office closes
  6. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 358
The story so far

Union, in brief

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

Union is a town in rural Greene County, Alabama, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 180. According to the 1980 U.S. Census, it was incorporated in the 1970s.

Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 237 to 180 (-24%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Union on the map, 1931 to 1980

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

Union on the 1931 USGS mapUnion on the 1980 USGS map1931Eutaw 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 Union.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Union had its own post office from 1836 to 1931.

Union
1836–1931
18301930today

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

Questions about Union’s history

What year was Union founded?

The Union post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.