Tuskegee’s post office opened in 1834, and 7 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #37 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it
Most of Tuskegee was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 137 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
The Tuskegee post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tuscegee (1836), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,563 in 18502020 census: 9,395192 years
How did Tuskegee get its name?
The name "Tuskegee" comes from Spanish Tasquiqui, which came from the Muskogee word Taskeke, meaning "warriors".
How historic is Tuskegee?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tuskegee is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #37 of 187 in Alabama. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tuskegee’s overall grade.
Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Tuskegee’s 157 sits above most of its state (89% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 140 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Tuskegee’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Tuskegee, building by building, 1885–1920
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Creek people long occupied this area, including a settlement known as Taskigi Town. After Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in furtherance of U.S. President Andrew Jackson's goals, most of the Creek bands were removed from their homelands in the Southeast to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Pioneer white planters and other migrants moved into the area, mostly from eastern Southern states. The planters brought or purchased enslaved African Americans to clear woods and develop cotton plantations. Invention of the cotton gin had made short-staple cotton profitable to process, and it became the chief commodity crop of the Deep South through the 19th century.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Tuskegee post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tuskegee rank for history?
Tuskegee is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #37 of 187 in Alabama. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Tuskegee?
7 listings: 3 buildings and 4 historic districts with 137 contributing buildings. 140 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Tuskegee?
3% of Tuskegee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1976.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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