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History · Andersonville

Andersonville’s post office opened in 1856, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Andersonville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1880.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Andersonville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Andersonville began

When was Andersonville founded?

1856

The Andersonville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Anderson (1855) and Adderton (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 308 in 18802020 census: 237170 years
Founding year: the first Andersonville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Andersonville’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Andersonville.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Andersonville’s post office has been open since 1856. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Anderson
1855–1856
Andersonville
1856–today
Adderton
1893–1894
18501940today
1cemetery inside Andersonville
Andersonville

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

The story

How Andersonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Andersonville.

Read it all →

The hamlet of Anderson was named for John Anderson, a director of the South Western Railroad in 1853 when it was extended from Oglethorpe to Americus. It was known as Anderson Station until the US post office was established in November 1855. The government changed the name of the station from "Anderson" to "Andersonville" in order to avoid confusion with the post office in Anderson, South Carolina.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Andersonville, 1855 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Anderson post office opens
  3. 1856Post officeThe Anderson post office closes
  4. 1856Post officeThe Andersonville post office opens
  5. 1861In the archiveCastle Reed, prison for federal officers at Andersonville, Georgia
  6. 1893Post officeThe Adderton post office opens
  7. 1894Post officeThe Adderton post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1970BuiltAndersonville National Historic Site is built
  10. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Andersonville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s10 items
Castle Reed, prison for federal officers at Andersonville, Georgia1861Castle Reed, prison for federal officers at Andersonv…Gateway to stockade1861Gateway to stockadeMail Civi War POW1864Mail Civi War POWHow they buried them at Andersonville, Georgia1864How they buried them at Andersonville, GeorgiaNational cemetery1864National cemeteryMain avenue, National Cemetery1864Main avenue, National CemeteryConfederate commisary [i.e. commissary] depot1864Confederate commisary [i.e. commissary] depotGate of Andersonville1864Gate of AndersonvilleAndersonville Prison, Georgia. South-west view of the stockade Showing the dead line /1864Andersonville Prison, Georgia. South-west view of the…Section of National Cemetery at Andersonville, Ga1864Section of National Cemetery at Andersonville, Ga
On the map

Andersonville on the map, 1972 to 1981

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

Andersonville on the 1972 USGS mapAndersonville on the 1981 USGS map1972Andersonville 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 Andersonville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Castle Reed, prison for federal officers at Andersonville, Georgia
Retake this viewCastle Reed, prison for federal officers at Andersonville, Georgia, 1861

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Andersonville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 5 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Andersonville National Historic Site
Districts
Andersonville National Historic SiteBuilt 1970

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

People over time

Andersonville, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 331

Between 174 and 331 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Andersonville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCastle Reed, prison for federal officer…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Andersonville’s history

What year was Andersonville founded?

The Andersonville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Andersonville?

One place: the Andersonville National Historic Site (listed 1970).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (9), 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.