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History · Anniston

Anniston’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Anniston was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1900.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Anniston began

When was Anniston founded?

1894

The Anniston post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 155 in 19002020 census: 180132 years
Founding year: the first Anniston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Anniston’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 Anniston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 515 in 1970; 180 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anniston’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Anniston, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 515

Peaked at 515 in 1970; 180 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Anniston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Anniston.

Read it all →

Anniston was originally called "Hainley's Switch", after Jacob Hainley, the proprietor of a local mill. A post office called Hainley's Switch was established in 1890, and the name was changed to Anniston in 1894. The present name is a transfer from Anniston, Alabama.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Anniston, 1894 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Anniston post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 515
By decade

Anniston, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Anniston-water-tower-zoom-mo2017Anniston-water-tower-zoom-moAnniston-water-tower-mo2017Anniston-water-tower-moAnniston-silos-mo2017Anniston-silos-moAnniston-post-office-mo2017Anniston-post-office-moAnniston-late-afternoon-mo2017Anniston-late-afternoon-moAnniston-Community-Center-mo2017Anniston-Community-Center-moAnniston-City-Hall-mo2017Anniston-City-Hall-mo
On the map

Anniston on the map, 1939 to 1969

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

Anniston on the 1939 USGS mapAnniston on the 1954 USGS mapAnniston on the 1969 USGS map1939Charleston sheet · 1:62,500

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

Questions about Anniston’s history

What year was Anniston founded?

The Anniston post office opened in 1894, 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 →
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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 (7), Wikipedia, 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.