Gainesville, Alabama
town in Alabama, United States
Gainesville is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1832, it was incorporated in 1835. As of the 2020 census, Gainesville had a population of 172. Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest surrendered his men near Gainesville on May 19, 1865, at the Civil War's end.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2), all land.
Demographics
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 208 people living in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 82.2% Black, 16.3% White and 1.4% from two or more races.
As of the census of 2000, there were 220 people, 87 households, and 58 families living in the town. The population density was 128.3 inhabitants per square mile (49.5/km2). There were 122 housing units at an average density of 71.1 per square mile (27.5/km2).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gainesville, Alabama” as town in Alabama, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town in Alabama, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q67505. Authority coordinates are 32.817, -88.158. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1832, 1835, 2020 and 1865.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gainesville, Alabama”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gainesville, Alabama primary sources, Gainesville, Alabama archive and Gainesville research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gainesville, Alabama”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gainesville, Alabama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.