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History · Skyline

Skyline was first counted by the census in 1990, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Skyline was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Skyline Commissary. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1990.

1990first census
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Skyline began

When was Skyline founded?

1990

Skyline first appears in the census in 1990. Two smaller post offices, Alto (1885) and Letcher (1907), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 740 in 19902020 census: 83436 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Skyline’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Skyline are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Skyline, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Skyline’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Skyline’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alto
1885–1920
Letcher
1907–1934
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cumberland Mountain Farm ColonyLetcher
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Skyline
SharpSkyline

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Skyline came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Skyline.

Read it all →

Skyline began in 1934 as a cooperative farming experiment known as "Cumberland Farms" under President Franklin Roosevelt's Federal Emergency Relief Administration. This was one of 43 such projects attempted nationally in depressed areas. It was soon renamed "Skyline Farms" to avoid confusion with another project in neighboring Tennessee. The experiment lasted for a decade before being sold off to private buyers in 1944.

The current town of Skyline is located about a mile north of the original farming colony.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Skyline, 1885 to 1936

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Alto post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907Post officeThe Letcher post office opens
  5. 1920Post officeThe Alto post office closes
  6. 1934Post officeThe Letcher post office closes
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Skyline, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Skyline-shops-SR79-al2017Skyline-shops-SR79-alSkyline-fire-department-al2017Skyline-fire-department-alSkyline-Town-Hall-al2017Skyline-Town-Hall-alSkyline-Church-of-Christ-al2017Skyline-Church-of-Christ-alRock House Skyline Nov 20172017Rock House Skyline Nov 2017
On the map

Skyline on the map, 1936 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Skyline. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Skyline on the 1936 USGS mapSkyline on the 1948 USGS mapSkyline on the 1951 USGS mapSkyline on the 1975 USGS mapSkyline on the 1982 USGS map1936Mud Creek sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Skyline.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Skyline

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Skyline Commissary
Skyline Commissary
Buildings
Skyline CommissaryBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Skyline, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 851

Between 740 and 851 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Skyline’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Skyline

Nobody well known was born in Skyline itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
John Allen ChauAmerican missionary · b. 1991
Kira Lewis Jr.American basketball player · b. 2001
Lucille BensonActress · b. 1914
Robert E. Jones, Jr.American politician · b. 1912
Jauan JenningsAmerican football wide receiver · b. 1997
Jeremy PruittAmerican football coach · b. 1974

Questions about Skyline’s history

What year was Skyline founded?

The Skyline post office opened in 1990, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Skyline?

One place: the Skyline Commissary (listed 2013).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.