Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #25 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 114 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1890.
The Ball Ground post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ball Ground is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #25 of 263 in Georgia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Ball Ground’s 403 sits above most of its state (85% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 115 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ball Ground’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Ball Ground.
The area that encompasses Ball Ground was originally inhabited by both the Cherokee and the Muscogee Creek, until the Battle of Taliwa, which took place in what later became Ball Ground in 1755, between the Cherokee and the Muscogee Creek, ending with a Cherokee victory and forcing the Creek out of the territory.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2025Shed along tracks
2025Railroad crossing
2025Ophir Baptist Church
2025Ophir Baptist Church Cemetery
2025Masonic Hall
2025Little Free Library
2025Gospel Temple Congregational Holiness Church
2025Gospel Temple Cemetery
2025Faith Baptist Church
2025Burger Bus
2015Locals pose with movie star Jesse Plemons during film…
2015Battle of Taliwa Historcial Landmark
2015Ball Ground Georgia City Hall
20152016.05 MAY (77)
2005GAMap-doton-BallGroundEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ball Ground. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ball Ground.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ball Ground’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 296 people in 1890 to 2,560 in 2020, 8 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ball Ground’s Wikipedia page.
The Ball Ground post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Ball Ground is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #25 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.
Two places: the Alfred W. Roberts House (listed 1985) and the Ball Ground Historic District (2009).
11% of Ball Ground’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2007.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
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