It was named for George Strother Gaines, who was the senior United States Indian agent in the region; he established a trading post here in 1809 for business with the Choctaw, the predominant tribe.

However, the community was being referred to as Gainestown by 1815, following the end of the Creek War and closure of the trading post in 1814.

Gainestown grew to be a large town during the heyday of river-based transport, but a slow decline began after the American Civil War.

[2] A contemporaneous account of the storm said that a dry goods store in the town was destroyed, with fragments of its products found as far away as 30 miles (48 km) to the east, in Monroe County.

This Clarke County, Alabama state location article is a stub.