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C−History
History · Austell

Austell’s post office opened in 1883

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #206 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Most of Austell was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: CalleyD01 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Austell began

When was Austell founded?

1883

The Austell post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Brown's (1856) and Irvine (1882), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 582 in 18902020 census: 7,713143 years

How historic is Austell?

C−

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Austell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Austell’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Austell is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #206 of 263 in Georgia. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Austell’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±2.9) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical GA town 10.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 22%

Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Austell’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 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 Austell’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Austell, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Austell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAlfred Austell (1814–1881): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Austell’s post office has been open since 1883. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Brown's
1856–1866
Irvine
1882–1883
Austell
1883–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cheyenne EstatesSherwood Park
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Austell
Brown MemorialCausey ChapelCommunity ChurchMcKenneyRose Hill

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

The story

How Austell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Austell.

Read it all →

Game hunters and trappers frequently went through the area that is now Austell on their way to the area's salt licks. These early visitors claimed the area's waters had medicinal properties. It soon became a destination for therapeutic healing, leading to the founding of a town known as Salt Springs. As immigration increased and demand for land near the spring grew, G. O. Mozely donated and subdivided 40 acres (16 ha) of his land, enhancing the loose settlement with a street plan. Later, the spring was renamed Lithia Springs due to the water containing lithium carbonate, and the neighboring city of Lithia Springs was founded in 1882. In 1888, the lithia spring water was bottled and sold under the commercial name Bowden Lithia Spring Water. The historic lithia spring water is still bottled and sold under the name brand Lithia Spring Water. The Georgia Pacific Railway chose the town of Au…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Austell, 1856 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Brown's post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Brown's post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Irvine post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Irvine post office closes
  6. 1883Post officeThe Austell post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902In the archiveAlfred Austell (1814–1881)
  9. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Austell, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Alfred Austell (1814–1881)1902Alfred Austell (1814–1881)
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 092018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 082018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 072018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 062018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 052018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 042018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 032018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 022018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six Flags 012018Riverside community in Cobb County, Georgia near Six …Downtown stores - panoramio (1)2015Downtown stores - panoramio (1)Downtown2015DowntownAustell, Georgia city hall2015Austell, Georgia city hallAustell stores2015Austell storesSouth Cobb High School2013South Cobb High SchoolBethany United Methodist Church in2008Bethany United Methodist Church inBethany United Methodist Church back in2008Bethany United Methodist Church back inGAMap-doton-Austell2005GAMap-doton-Austell
On the map

Austell on the map, 1954 to 1992

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

Austell on the 1954 USGS mapAustell on the 1968 USGS mapAustell on the 1973 USGS mapAustell on the 1982 USGS mapAustell on the 1992 USGS map1954Austell 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 Austell.

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.

Alfred Austell (1814–1881)
Retake this viewAlfred Austell (1814–1881), 1902

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Austell, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019001920194019601980200020207,713

Grew from 582 people in 1890 to 7,713 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mableton8 historic placesB−Lithia SpringsIts storyC−

Questions about Austell’s history

What year was Austell founded?

The Austell post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Austell rank for history?

Austell is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #206 of 263 in Georgia. 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.

How old are the homes in Austell?

3% of Austell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1993.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.