A history of Athens,
since 1818
Postcards, papers and photographs of Athens from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Founded in 1818 by John Coffee, Robert Beaty, John D. Carroll, and John Read, Athens is one of the oldest incorporated cities in the state, having been incorporated one year prior to the state's admittance to the Union in 1819. Limestone County was also created by an act of the Alabama Territorial Legislature in 1818. The town was first called Athenson, but was incorporated as Athens after the ancient city in Greece. The town's first mayor was Samuel Tanner, and the Tanner area, south of Athens, was named on his behalf.
The Athens area was the home of William Wyatt Bibb, the first governor of Alabama, and its second governor, his brother Thomas Bibb, who succeeded him in office when he died in a fall from his horse.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Athens’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Athens, decade by decade
1920s
1990s
8 historic places in Athens
Athens has 8 listings on the National Register, and they protect 274 historic buildings, because Houston, George S., Historic District alone counts 112.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1973Robert Donnell House
Listed 1982Old Athens, Alabama Main Post Office
Listed 1984Robert Beaty Historic District
Listed 1985Athens State College Historic District
Listed 1986Governor George Smith Houston House
Listed 1989Houston, George S., Historic District
Listed 1997Athens Courthouse Square Commercial Historic DistrictListed 2014Cotton HillThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Alabama - Limestone County - Athens - ED AL 42-1 to 6 (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.