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History · New Alexandria

New Alexandria’s post office opened in 1832, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1850.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How New Alexandria began

When was New Alexandria founded?

1832

The New Alexandria post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 198 in 18502020 census: 232194 years
Founding year: the first New Alexandria post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about New Alexandria’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 New Alexandria are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 425 in 1970; 232 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19047 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1985. Watch New Alexandria change.Old housesHalf of New Alexandria’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Alexandria’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Alexandria’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

New Alexandria, census by census

01002003004001850190019502000Peak: 425

Peaked at 425 in 1970; 232 people lived here in 2020.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

On the map

New Alexandria on the map, 1904 to 1985

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

New Alexandria on the 1904 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1935 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1942 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1958 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1968 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1978 USGS mapNew Alexandria on the 1985 USGS map1904Steubenville 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 New Alexandria.

The story

How New Alexandria came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Alexandria.

Read it all →

New Alexandria derives its name from the former proprietor, Alexander Smith, who laid out the town in 1831. Prior to this, the area was known as "Tempo" by the surrounding local community, derived from either a temperance hotel that was kept there by Matthew Thompson as far back as 1820, or the village Tempo, County Fermanagh, Ireland where Thompson grew up.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

New Alexandria, 1832 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe New Alexandria post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1918Post officeThe New Alexandria post office closes
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 425
By decade

New Alexandria, decade by decade

Today4 recent
New Alexandria UMC2015New Alexandria UMCNew Alexandria Road houses2015New Alexandria Road housesMap of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting New Alexandria Village2015Map of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting New Alexand…MapOHMap-doton-New Alexandria2004OHMap-doton-New Alexandria
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

New Alexandria had its own post office from 1832 to 1918.

New Alexandria
1832–1918
18301930today
Gone or out of use
New Alexandria Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside New Alexandria
New Alexandria

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wells TownshipIts storyB−Cross Creek Township1 historic placeC+

Questions about New Alexandria’s history

What year was New Alexandria founded?

The New Alexandria post office opened in 1832, 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 (4), 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.