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C−History
History · Alpharetta

Alpharetta’s post office opened in 1858, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #191 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Most of Alpharetta was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1860.

1858first post office
1on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
22famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alpharetta began

When was Alpharetta founded?

1858

The Alpharetta post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 261 in 18602020 census: 65,818168 years

How historic is Alpharetta?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Alpharetta’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alpharetta is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #191 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alpharetta’s overall grade.
Founding era1858, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.4) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 27%

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 Alpharetta’s 0.3 sits below most of its state (33% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Alpharetta’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 Alpharetta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.Lost villages11 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersCroix Bethune, Jaycee Horn and 20 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alpharetta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alpharetta’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

Alpharetta, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,000190019502000261 in 1860Low: 126

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Alpharetta’s post office has been open since 1858.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Alpha ParkAlpharetteAndover NorthCountry PlaceJamestowneLake Union HillPreston RidgeSterling HeightsSurrey PlaceVillage GreenWedgewood Forest
Gone or out of use
Dodd Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alpharetta
AlpharettaBethlehemCrabapple BaptistMartinMaxwellMorrisOld Big CreekTabernacle Baptist

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

The story

How Alpharetta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alpharetta.

Read it all →

In the 1830s, the Cherokee people in Georgia and elsewhere in the South were forcibly relocated to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) under the Indian Removal Act. Pioneers and farmers later settled on the newly vacated land, situated along a former Cherokee trail stretching from the North Georgia mountains to the Chattahoochee River.

One of the area's first permanent landmarks was the New Prospect Camp Ground (also known as the Methodist Camp Ground), beside a natural spring near what is now downtown Alpharetta. It later served as a trading post for the exchanging of goods among settlers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alpharetta, 1858 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Alpharetta post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1995Born hereJoshua Dobbs is born here
  6. 1999Born hereJaycee Horn is born here
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000Born hereCJ Abrams is born here
  9. 2001Born hereCroix Bethune is born here
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 65,818
By decade

Alpharetta, decade by decade

Today24 recent
116th Army Band GA National Guard2016116th Army Band GA National Guard116th Army Band GA National Guard2016116th Army Band GA National Guard116th Army Band GA National Guard2016116th Army Band GA National Guard116th Army Band GA National Guard2016116th Army Band GA National Guard116th Army Band GA National Guard2016116th Army Band GA National GuardDowntown2015DowntownAvalon (Alpharetta, Georgia) September 20152015Avalon (Alpharetta, Georgia) September 2015Avalon (Alpharetta, Georgia) September 2015 (cropped)2015Avalon (Alpharetta, Georgia) September 2015 (cropped)Downtown2013DowntownStormwater Detention Pond2011Stormwater Detention Pond시월의 벚꽃 Lexington Woods2009시월의 벚꽃 Lexington WoodsUntitled photo2009Untitled photoWebb Bridge Post Office2009Webb Bridge Post OfficeToo Heavy ^ on Electrical Pole2009Too Heavy ^ on Electrical PoleLexington Woods in2009Lexington Woods inLexington Woods in Alpharetta GA - panoramio (1)2009Lexington Woods in Alpharetta GA - panoramio (1)Lexington Woods2009Lexington WoodsCreekside Ct2009Creekside CtClub House in Community2009Club House in CommunityChurch (Christ of Sheperd)2009Church (Christ of Sheperd)Bonefish Grill Restaurant2009Bonefish Grill RestaurantNew prospect2008New prospectNew prospect2008New prospect洋插队网 - panoramio (2)2007洋插队网 - panoramio (2)
On the map

Alpharetta on the map, 1956 to 1992

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

Alpharetta on the 1956 USGS mapAlpharetta on the 1968 USGS mapAlpharetta on the 1973 USGS mapAlpharetta on the 1985 USGS mapAlpharetta on the 1992 USGS map1956Roswell 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 Alpharetta.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Alpharetta

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House
Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Hall-Parlor Type1
Simeon and Jane Rucker Log HouseHall-Parlor Type

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

Famous people

22 famous people were born in Alpharetta

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

See all →
Croix BethuneAmerican soccer player · b. 2001
Jaycee HornAmerican football player · b. 1999
CJ AbramsAmerican baseball player · b. 2000
Joshua DobbsAmerican football player · b. 1995
S
Shannon ScottAmerican basketball player · b. 1992
Carl LawsonAmerican football player · b. 1995
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MiltonIts storyD−Johns Creek1 historic placeDRoswell6 historic placesB−

Questions about Alpharetta’s history

What year was Alpharetta founded?

The Alpharetta post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Alpharetta rank for history?

Alpharetta is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #191 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 Alpharetta?

One place: the Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Alpharetta?

0.7% of Alpharetta’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1996.

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 (24), 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.