The story
Read it all →How Fairhope Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Fairhope Township.
The Packsaddle Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Fairhope Township
Fairhope Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Packsaddle Bridge. Below: maps from 1923 on.
1871first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Fairhope Township began
When was Fairhope Township founded?
1871
The Fairhope Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Williams (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 100155 years
Founding year: the first Fairhope Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Fairhope Township’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 Fairhope Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Fairhope Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19234 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1973. Watch Fairhope Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Fairhope Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairhope Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Another post office, Williams, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fairhope
Williams
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bittners MillFairhopeWilliams
Gone or out of use
Emrick Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Fairhope Township on the map, 1923 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairhope Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1923Berlin sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairhope Township.
Timeline
Fairhope Township, 1871 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Fairhope Township, decade by decade
2008On the National Register
1 historic place in Fairhope Township
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
1980
Packsaddle Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Multiple King Post Truss1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Fairhope Township
Nobody well known was born in Fairhope Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Fairhope Township’s history
What year was Fairhope Township founded?
The Fairhope Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Fairhope Township?
One place: the Packsaddle Bridge (listed 1980).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.