Welcome to Opelika ...
Opelika is located in the Piney Woods (East Texas).
Opelika is located in Henderson County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Opelika, you might consider that their post office opened in 1912.
When the people of Opelika refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Opelikian<2>
Opelika is 410 feet [125 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Opelika lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Opelika: 903 & 430<4>
Communities Also Named Opelika ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Opelika - it's located in Alabama.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Opelika.
Communities near Opelika ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Opelika.
- Athens
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Chandler
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hideaway
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hideaway is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,208 people
- Van
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Van is located in Van Zandt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,778 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Van <5>
- Brownsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Frankston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Berryville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Berryville is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,066 people
- Eustace
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Noonday
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Noonday is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noonday
- Population from the 2020 Census: 722 people
- Murchison
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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 Opelika. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Opelika.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Opelika. 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 Opelika.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Opelika. See our Newspapers Page for Opelika.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Opelika ...
Looking for more information about Opelika? 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 Opelika, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Opelika.
Adding Opelika to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Opelika 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 (so far) for Opelika was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Opelika post office opened in 1912. The Opelika post office closed in 1923.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Opelika.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Texas' counties, including Henderson, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Opelika refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Opelika may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Opelika - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | 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 903 code has been Overlayed with the 430 area code. New phone numbers in the Opelika area will be assigned with one of these codes: 903 or 430. As a result, placing a call in the Opelika area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |