Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Waverly

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Waverly

Waverly’s post office opened in 1850, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1920.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Waverly began

When was Waverly founded?

1850

The Waverly post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 208 in 19202020 census: 159176 years
Founding year: the first Waverly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Waverly’s 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 383 in 1930; 159 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1981. Watch Waverly change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waverly’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJames LaFayette Greer: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Waverly, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 383

Peaked at 383 in 1930; 159 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

On the map

Waverly on the map, 1906 to 1981

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

Waverly on the 1906 USGS mapWaverly on the 1971 USGS mapWaverly on the 1981 USGS map1906Dadeville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Waverly came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Waverly.

Read it all →

Waverly was settled in the 1830s, but saw little growth until the 1870s. The name of Waverly, Alabama first appeared on Alabama maps in 1853 (see reference below). It was given the nickname, Pea Ridge, but this was never its official name.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Waverly, 1850 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Waverly post office opens
  3. 1861In the archiveJames LaFayette Greer
  4. 1896Born hereCarey Robinson is born here
  5. 1897Born hereDouglas Arant is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 383
By decade

Waverly, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
James LaFayette Greer1861James LaFayette Greer
Today11 recent
WaverlyRamshackle2007WaverlyRamshackleWaverlyGraveyard22007WaverlyGraveyard2WaverlyGraveyard2007WaverlyGraveyardWaverlyGraveDetail2007WaverlyGraveDetailWaverlyAlabama12007WaverlyAlabama1TheYellowHammerRestaurant22007TheYellowHammerRestaurant2TheYellowHammerRestaurant12007TheYellowHammerRestaurant1HighCornerCoop32007HighCornerCoop3HighCornerCoop22007HighCornerCoop2HighCornerCoop12007HighCornerCoop1DowntownWaverlyAL2007DowntownWaverlyAL
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.

James LaFayette Greer
Retake this viewJames LaFayette Greer, 1861

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Waverly

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

See all →
Carey RobinsonAmerican football player · b. 1896
D
Douglas ArantBirmingham, Alabama attorney · b. 1897

Questions about Waverly’s history

What year was Waverly founded?

The Waverly post office opened in 1850, 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 →
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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.