*** Welcome to piglix ***

Maplesville, Alabama

Maplesville, Alabama
Town
Maplesville Alabama Feb 2012 03.jpg
Location in Chilton County and the state of Alabama
Location in Chilton County and the state of Alabama
Coordinates: 32°46′55″N 86°52′32″W / 32.78194°N 86.87556°W / 32.78194; -86.87556
Country United States
State Alabama
County Chilton
Area
 • Total 3.3 sq mi (8.6 km2)
 • Land 3.3 sq mi (8.5 km2)
 • Water 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation 351 ft (107 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 708
 • Density 217/sq mi (83.6/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 36750
Area code(s) 334
FIPS code 01-46504
GNIS feature ID 0160032
Website www.townofmaplesville.com

Maplesville is a town in Chilton County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 708.

The mayor of Maplesville is W. C. Hayes, Jr.

The town of Maplesville first began to grow in a location 3 miles (5 km) east of its present location, near Mulberry Creek. European settlers migrated to the area from Georgia and the Carolinas following the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, after the Native Americans who had been living there were defeated. The town was named after Stephen W. Maples, a merchant and the town's first postmaster.

The town was located at the crossroads of two important trading routes: the Elyton Road from Selma to Birmingham, and the Fort Jackson Road from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. By 1850, the original town of Maplesville had a population of 809. The town had two horse-racing tracks, which brought visitors to the town, and had several inns and taverns to accommodate the stagecoach traffic.

The original town site began to decline in the early 1850s, after two railway lines were completed 3 miles west of the town. The Selma, Rome, and Dalton Railroad completed their line in 1850, and the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway followed in 1853. That same year, a depot was constructed at that location. Residents and businesspeople from the original Maplesville began moving closer to the railroad, and when the Maplesville Post Office was relocated to the railroad town in 1856, the new town was renamed Maplesville. The original town site gradually became deserted, and all that remains today is the Old Maplesville Cemetery along Route 191.

Because of Maplesville's abundant rail access, it became a shipping point for cotton and other goods from the surrounding area. In 1865, the train depot was destroyed in a raid by Union general James H. Wilson, as Wilson's Raiders marched on to Selma. It was replaced soon after the Civil War, but was destroyed by fire in 1911.


...
Wikipedia

...