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CHistory
History · Alma

Alma’s post office opened in 1900, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #166 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Most of Alma was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1910.

1900first post office
4on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alma’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alma began

When was Alma founded?

1900

The Alma post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 458 in 19102020 census: 3,433126 years

How historic is Alma?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Alma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Alma’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alma is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #166 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alma’s overall grade.
Founding era1900, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19408.2% of homes (±4.8) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 11.7 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 37%

Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alma’s 11.7 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). 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 Alma’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 historic places in Alma

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Bacon County Courthouse
Bacon County Courthouse, built 1919Alma DepotRabinowitz BuildingBacon County School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Neo-Classical1
Commercial Style1
Colonial Revival1
Bacon County CourthouseNeo-Classical · Built 1919
Alma DepotBuilding
Rabinowitz BuildingCommercial Style
Bacon County SchoolColonial Revival

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

The story

How Alma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alma.

Read it all →

Alma was founded in 1900 as a stop on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It was incorporated as a city in 1906 and designated seat of the newly formed Bacon County in 1914.

There are two theories about the origin of the name of the town. The first is that it was named for the wife of a traveling salesmen, Alma Sheridan; the other is that it was named for the initial letter of the four state capitals Georgia has had: Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville, and Atlanta.

There are four sites in Alma listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Alma Depot, Bacon County Courthouse, Bacon County School, and the Rabinowitz Building.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alma, 1900 to 1971

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Alma post office opens
  3. 1915Born hereWilliam McDonald Wheeler is born here
  4. 1919BuiltBacon County Courthouse is built
  5. 1919Born hereDaniel W. Lee is born here
  6. 1935Born hereHarry Crews is born here
  7. 1937In the archiveRoad signs near Alma, Georgia
  8. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
  9. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alma, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Road signs near Alma, Georgia1937Road signs near Alma, GeorgiaNegro boy selling pecans near Alma, Georgia1937Negro boy selling pecans near Alma, GeorgiaNegro boy selling pecans, near Alma, Georgia1937Negro boy selling pecans, near Alma, GeorgiaRoad sign near pecan stand1937Road sign near pecan standNegro boy selling pecans by road, near Alma, Georgia1937Negro boy selling pecans by road, near Alma, GeorgiaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Negro boy selling pecans by road, near Alma, Georgia1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negro boy sellin…
1940s1 item
Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]1940Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] …
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Alma Bacon County Public Library2015Alma Bacon County Public LibraryAlma Bacon County Fire Station2015Alma Bacon County Fire Station12th St WB and Church St intersection201512th St WB and Church St intersectionGAMap-doton-Alma2005GAMap-doton-Alma
On the map

Alma on the map in 1971

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

Alma on the 1971 USGS map1971Alma 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 Alma.

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.

Road signs near Alma, Georgia
Retake this viewRoad signs near Alma, Georgia, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Alma, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,819

Between 458 and 3,819 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Alma

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

See all →
H
Harry CrewsAmerican writer · b. 1935
Daniel W. LeeUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1919
William McDonald WheelerAmerican politician, Georgia · b. 1915
Help out

Finish Alma’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRoad signs near Alma, Georgia: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Alma’s history

What year was Alma founded?

The Alma post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Alma rank for history?

Alma is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #166 of 263 in Georgia. 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 Alma?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Bacon County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first).

How old are the homes in Alma?

8% of Alma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.