Penn, Alabama

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Penn, Alabama
Unincorporated community
Penn is located in Alabama
Penn
Penn
Penn is located in the United States
Penn
Penn
Coordinates: 34°21′22.35″N 87°05′0.04″W / 34.3562083°N 87.0833444°W / 34.3562083; -87.0833444
CountryUnited States
StateAlabama
CountyMorgan
Elevation
630 ft (192 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
35619
Area code256
GNIS feature ID160358[1]

Penn (/ˈpɛnn/) is an unincorporated community in southwestern Morgan County, Alabama, United States, south of Danville and near the county lines with Lawrence County and Cullman County.

History

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Originally known as Basham's Gap (/ˈbæsˌhæms ˈɡæp/) (spelled Bassham's Gap in the earliest records), the community was settled around 1818[2], taking its name from the nearby mountain pass climbing steeply into the mountains of the Cumberland Plateau.[3] An early reference to the community appears in an 1837 act of the Alabama Assembly, "An Act to establish a Public Road from Bassham's Gap in Morgan County to the dividing line between Walker and Tuscaloosa counties by the way of Jasper and James Cain in Walker county" (approved 25 December 1837).[4]

A post office operated under the name Basham's Gap from 1847 to 1895 and under the name Basham from 1895 to 1907.[5][6]

The community later became known as Penn, after Penn's School, a school in the community founded by Dr. Richard L. Penn.[citation needed]

Postmasters

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  • 1847–1866: James H. Basham
  • 1866–1869: Mary A. Simpson
  • 1869–1871: Doke W. Sherrill
  • 1871: Sarah F. Basham
  • 1871–1873: Sylvanus Gibson
  • 1873–1882: Wiley B. Sherrill
  • 1882–1888: John D. Sherrill
  • 1888–1894: Sylvanus L. Sherrill (post office name shorted to "Basham")
  • 1894–1895: Rather S. Sherrill
  • 1895–1900: Martin T. Roden
  • 1900–1901: David R. James
  • 1901–1902: James D. Segars
  • 1902–1903: Thomas J. Segars
  • 1903–1904: Maggie Jones
  • 1904–1907: Jennie Bennett
  • 1907: Post office discontinued and mail sent to Danville.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Penn". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Foscue, Virginia. Place Names in Alabama. University: U of Alabama Press, 1989.
  3. ^ "Basham Gap". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. ^ Acts Passed at the Annual Session of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama, November through December 1837, Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Ferguson & Eaton, 1838, pp. 124–125
  5. ^ "Morgan County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b John Knox, A History of Morgan County, Alabama (Decatur, Alabama: Morgan County Board of Revenue and Control, 1966), 130.


34°21′22.35″N 87°05′0.04″W / 34.3562083°N 87.0833444°W / 34.3562083; -87.0833444