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History · Silerton

Silerton’s post office opened in 1921, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1930.

1921first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Silerton began

When was Silerton founded?

1921

The Silerton post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Silers (1886) and Siler (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 88 in 19302020 census: 97105 years
Founding year: the first Silerton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Silerton’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 Silerton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 291 in 1940; 97 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Silerton.Old housesHalf of Silerton’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Silerton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Silerton’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

Silerton, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 291

Peaked at 291 in 1940; 97 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Silerton’s post office has been open since 1921. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Silers
1886–1904
Siler
1920–1921
Silerton
1921–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Hickory Grove ChurchchurchSilerton Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Silerton
Hickory Grove

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

The story

How Silerton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Silerton.

Read it all →

In 1869, Jesse, Spencer, Horace, and Jame Siler, sons of Solomon Siler, and John, Josiah, James, and Edward Siler, the sons of James Siler, purchased the land after moving from Siler City, North Carolina. There they raised their families, many of whom are still related to Silerton residents today. With the arrival of the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1917, Silerton became a railroad town. The depot would be named after the Siler family, many of whom maintained important businesses in the area. Eventually, the town's name would be changed to "Silerton" to avoid confusion with the nearby town of Serles. The town would also grow into a venue for the timber trade. In 1923, Silerton was incorporated as a municipality by a private act of the state legislature.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Silerton, 1886 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Silers post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Silers post office closes
  5. 1920Post officeThe Siler post office opens
  6. 1921Post officeThe Siler post office closes
  7. 1921Post officeThe Silerton post office opens
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 291
  9. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Silerton, decade by decade

Today1 recent
TN125 South Right Sign in2023TN125 South Right Sign in
On the map

Silerton on the map, 1961 to 1971

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

Silerton on the 1961 USGS mapSilerton on the 1971 USGS map1961Silerton 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 Silerton.

Famous people

Famous people close to Silerton

Nobody well known was born in Silerton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
T
Thomas HarrisAmerican author and screenwriter · b. 1940
Steve FossettAmerican businessman, record-setting aviator, s… · b. 1944
Christopher JonesAmerican actor · b. 1941
Eddy ArnoldAmerican country music singer, songwriter · b. 1918
Wink MartindaleAmerican disc jockey, radio personality, game s… · b. 1933
R
Randall WallaceAmerican filmmaker · b. 1949

Questions about Silerton’s history

What year was Silerton founded?

The Silerton post office opened in 1921, 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 →
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), 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.