Stapleton is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in northern Baldwin County,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, United States, with a population of 51

It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area. Stapleton lies along

U.S. Route 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. ...

and State Route 59 and has been considered for

incorporation Incorporation may refer to: * Incorporation (business), the creation of a corporation * Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county * Incorporation (academic), awarding a degree based on the student having ...

within the cities of Loxley and Bay Minette. There is a

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...

festival held at Stapleton Elementary School every fall. There are about 250 students at the school that runs from Pre-K to the 6th grade.

Demographics

History

The first post office in the town of Canby, as Stapleton was then known, was established in 1895. Later, the Hamm brothers of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, IL convinced the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...

(L&N) to build a subsidiary line between Bay Minette and Foley. By 1905 this spur called the

Bay Minette & Fort Morgan Railroad A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

had penetrated the thirty-seven miles of dense Baldwin County pine forests with the town of Canby lying along the route. Shortly afterwards the town's name was changed to honor W. D. Stapleton, the man who was instrumental in getting a railroad depot for their town. The railroad was important to the local economy and early on the trains passed through Stapleton several times a day as they made their way to the southern end of the county and back. Highway traffic also picked up as of 1936 when the only paved road in Baldwin County, other than a small strip in Bay Minette going from the courthouse to the railroad, was the stretch of US 31 coming in from Atmore and ending at Stapleton. By the 1970s the train traffic had slowed to at most one train making the down and back trip each day. Now the train tracks are completely gone.

Education

Stapleton is zoned to schools in the

Baldwin County Public Schools The Baldwin County Board of Education oversees most public schools in Baldwin County, Alabama, and is based in Bay Minette, Alabama. The Board serves the entire county. Over 30,000 students are within the supervision of the Board. 3,400 employe ...

. Stapleton Elementary School serves Pre-K through 6th grade. Grades 7 through 8 attend Bay Minette Middle School. Grades 9 through 12 are zoned to

Baldwin County High School Baldwin County High School is a public high school that serves grades 9- 12 in Bay Minette, Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Baldwin County Public Schools. BCHS is an Apple Distinguished school. Students received MacBoo ...

. The students can participate in band starting in sixth grade, but are also exposed to many other opportunities at their after school program.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Baldwin County, Alabama Unincorporated communities in Alabama