Reeltown, AL

Reeltown is a census-designated place in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, with 794 residents in the 2020 census. The community’s name comes from the O’Real family, although “Real” became “Reel” in the place name. It was called Thaddeus from 1880 to 1902 in honor of postmaster Thaddeus P. Webster, then returned to the Reeltown name. The rural roads around the CDP run through the wooded and rolling country of east-central Alabama. The name changes are part of local memory, distinguishing Reeltown from neighboring Tallapoosa communities.

Reeltown once hosted the Southeastern Kiwi Farming Cooperative, remembered as Alabama’s kiwi farm. That unusual crop gives the community a story beyond its usual farm roads and scattered homes. Today Reeltown’s daily connections reach toward Tallapoosa County schools, nearby towns, and the larger Auburn-Opelika region, while the old names keep local history close to the postal map. Reeltown is an Alabama community where a misspelled family name, a former postmaster’s title, an experimental orchard, and rural county roads meet.