Welcome to Rainbow ...
Rainbow is located in Madison County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Rainbow, you might consider that their post office opened in 1901.
Rainbow is 780 feet [238 m] above sea level.<2>.
Time Zone: Rainbow lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Rainbow: 256 & 938<3>
Communities Also Named Rainbow ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Rainbow - they are located in Alaska, California (2), Connecticut, Indiana, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rainbow.
Communities near Rainbow ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rainbow.
- Huntsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Decatur
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <4>
- Madison
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Athens
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Priceville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Owens' Cross Roads
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owens' Cross Roads have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owens' Cross Roads
- Owens' Cross Roads is located in Madison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,233 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Owens' Cross Roads <4>
- Ardmore
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ardmore have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardmore
- Ardmore is located in Limestone County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,513 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ardmore <4>
- Triana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Triana have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Ardmore
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ardmore have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardmore
- Ardmore is located in Giles County (TN)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,218 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ardmore <4>
- Somerville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Rainbow. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rainbow.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rainbow. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rainbow.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rainbow. See our Newspapers Page for Rainbow.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rainbow ...
Looking for more information about Rainbow? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Rainbow, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Rainbow.
Adding Rainbow to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Rainbow in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Rainbow was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Rainbow post office opened in 1901.
We also found Rainbow on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Alabama (1911).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Rainbow.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Madison, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rainbow - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <3> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 256 code has been Overlayed with the 938 area code. New phone numbers in the Rainbow area will be assigned with one of these codes: 256 or 938. As a result, placing a call in the Rainbow area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |