Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Alapaha

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 · Alapaha

Alapaha’s post office opened in 1838, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Alapaha Colored School. Below: maps from 1977 on and the census since 1880.

1838first post office
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alapaha began

When was Alapaha founded?

1838

The Alapaha post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 157 in 18802020 census: 481188 years
Founding year: the first Alapaha post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Alapaha’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 Alapaha are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 812 in 1990; 481 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Alapaha.Old housesHalf of Alapaha’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alapaha’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alapaha’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

Alapaha, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 812

Peaked at 812 in 1990; 481 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Alapaha, 1838 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Alapaha post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Born hereMoses White is born here
  5. 1916Born hereDuke Cleveland is born here
  6. 1977On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 812
The story

How Alapaha came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alapaha.

Read it all →

The Smithsonian Institution documented the presence of an Indian mound near Alapaha in 1886: "The Alapaha mound is situated 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of the town of Alapaha, on Alapaha River, on lot of land No. 328, fifth district of Berrien County, Georgia. It is 38 feet (12 m) across, 6 feet (1.8 m) above the level, and somewhat oval in shape. In the center of the mound was a burial vault 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, 3 feet (0.91 m) wide, and 6 feet (1.8 m) long, north and south. Two bodies were deposited in this vault with the heads pointing south." It is possible that these remains became part of the Smithsonian collection, as was typical of its archaeological expeditions at the time. This source also gives the location and contents of two other Berrien County mounds south of Nashville, the Withlacoochee mound, and the French Ferry mound.

ChaptersIndian presence and early settlementBoomtown years20th century to present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Alapaha, decade by decade

Today1 recent
GAMap-doton-Alapaha2005GAMap-doton-Alapaha
On the map

Alapaha on the map in 1977

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alapaha.

Alapaha on the 1977 USGS map1977Alapaha 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 Alapaha.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Alapaha

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
2002
Alapaha Colored School
Alapaha Colored School
Buildings
Alapaha Colored SchoolBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Alapaha

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

See all →
Moses WhiteAmerican businessman and civil rights activist · b. 1915
D
Duke ClevelandAmerican baseball player · b. 1916

Questions about Alapaha’s history

What year was Alapaha founded?

The Alapaha post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Alapaha?

One place: the Alapaha Colored School (listed 2002).

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