Daviston, incorporated on February 16, 1887, is believed to have been the first incorporated rural town in Tallapoosa County, with J.D. Dunn as its first mayor. It grew from the opening of Indian lands in 1832, as much of the Federal Horse Path lay within Creek Indian lands and the construction of Chapman Road from West Point, Georgia to Fort Williams, Alabama on the Coosa River opened land to white settlement. Daviston flourished as roads improved and became a hub of migration, with grist and saw mills, a blacksmith shop, buggy shop, coffin shop, general mercantile, public well, federal distillery, six saloons or inns, a pharmacy, and doctors. The first land deed found was dated 1836 to S.W. Monk. The post office was established in 1853 with John Davis as the first postmaster, and a long-told story holds that when he submitted the name Davis Town to the government, poor penmanship or a mistake changed it to Daviston, which remained the town's name. In 1883, Walker Allen and his twin Walter moved to Daviston, and Walker Allen was elected principal of Daviston School. In 1884, a wooden two-story building was begun on land given by J.T. Moncus to be called Daviston College, and it became a high school around 1912. That building burned in 1923, another building was constructed and burned before it could be used, and a third building was built in 1923 and received accreditation that year. Lillie Thompson, who graduated in 1916, was the first graduate of Daviston High School. The school closed in 1988 as the smallest school in Alabama, with 120 kindergarten through 12th grade students. Thirty-eight principals served from 1883 to 1988, and for 105 years Daviston School was the center of the community. In 1998, a committee formed to begin an annual Daviston School Reunion in the center of town on the second Saturday of November.