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History · Alberta

Alberta’s post office opened in 1907, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1930.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alberta began

When was Alberta founded?

1907

The Alberta post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Walthall Store (1873) and Cochran (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 328 in 19302020 census: 302119 years
Founding year: the first Alberta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Alberta’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 Alberta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 466 in 1970; 302 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Alberta, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19185 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1972. Watch Alberta change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alberta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alberta’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

Alberta, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020Peak: 466

Peaked at 466 in 1970; 302 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Alberta’s post office has been open since 1907. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Walthall Store
1873–1911
Cochran
1900–1958
Alberta
1907–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cochran
1cemetery inside Alberta
Johnson

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

The story

How Alberta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alberta.

Read it all →

For much of the 20th century, Alberta marked the junction of two railroad mainlines. The Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad from Petersburg, Virginia to Ridgeway Junction (today Norlina, North Carolina) was completed in 1900, at which point it was merged into the Seaboard Air Line (SAL). By 1914, the population of Alberta was estimate by the railroad to be somewhere around 100. The Seaboard line (dubbed the "S-line" after later mergers) continued to operate into the 1980s, and today Alberta is along the abandoned portion of the CSX Norlina Subdivision. The Virginian Railway opened in 1907 from Norfolk to Victoria, Virginia, passing through Alberta (with through-service from the coalfields of Appalachia starting in 1909). The Virginian continued in use until it was gradually abandoned following a merger with Norfolk and Western in the later half of the 20th century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alberta, 1873 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Walthall Store post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Cochran post office opens
  5. 1907Born hereAlbertis Harrison is born here
  6. 1907Post officeThe Alberta post office opens
  7. 1911Post officeThe Walthall Store post office closes
  8. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1925Born hereBill Connelly is born here
  10. 1958Post officeThe Cochran post office closes
  11. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 466
By decade

Alberta, decade by decade

Today1 recent
VAMap-doton-Alberta2005VAMap-doton-Alberta
On the map

Alberta on the map, 1918 to 1972

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

Alberta on the 1918 USGS mapAlberta on the 1921 USGS mapAlberta on the 1942 USGS mapAlberta on the 1963 USGS mapAlberta on the 1972 USGS map1918Lawrenceville 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 Alberta.

Every building

Alberta, building by building, 1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Alberta fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Alberta

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

See all →
Albertis HarrisonAmerican politician · b. 1907
B
Bill ConnellyAmerican baseball player · b. 1925

Questions about Alberta’s history

What year was Alberta founded?

The Alberta post office opened in 1907, 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, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.