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History · Valley Head

Valley Head’s post office opened in 1837, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Winston Place. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1890.

1837first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Valley Head began

When was Valley Head founded?

1837

The Valley Head post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 233 in 18902020 census: 577189 years
Founding year: the first Valley Head post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Valley Head’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 Valley Head are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Valley Head.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valley Head’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valley Head’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

Valley Head, 1837 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Valley Head post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1922Born hereE. T. York is born here
  5. 1932Born hereHarold Wilkes is born here
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Valley Head, in brief

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

Valley Head is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. Although this town incorporated in 1922, it was also listed as being incorporated on the 1890 U.S. Census. It is part of the Lookout Mountain region. At the 2020 census, its population was 577.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 558 to 577 (+3%).

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

By decade

Valley Head, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Winston Memorial Presbyterian Church Nov 20172017Winston Memorial Presbyterian Church Nov 2017Valley Head Town Hall Nov 20172017Valley Head Town Hall Nov 2017Commerce Avenue, Valley Head, Alabama Nov 20172017Commerce Avenue, Valley Head, Alabama Nov 2017
On the map

Valley Head on the map, 1936 to 1983

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

Valley Head on the 1936 USGS mapValley Head on the 1946 USGS mapValley Head on the 1983 USGS map1936Little Falls 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 Valley Head.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Valley Head

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Winston Place
Winston Place
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Greek Revival1
Winston PlaceColonial Revival

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

People over time

Valley Head, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 611

Between 233 and 611 people in every census since 1890.

11 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Valley Head

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

See all →
E. T. YorkAmerican university administrator, professor, a… · b. 1922
H
Harold WilkesAmerican football player, coach, and collage at… · b. 1932
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fort Payne7 historic placesBHammondville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMentone2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Valley Head’s history

What year was Valley Head founded?

The Valley Head post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Valley Head?

One place: the Winston Place (listed 1987).

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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.