Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Braselton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Braselton

Braselton dates to 1884, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #165 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Most of Braselton was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 46 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1920.

1884founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Braselton began

When was Braselton founded?

1884

Braselton dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 148 in 19202020 census: 13,403142 years

How historic is Braselton?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1906.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Braselton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Braselton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #165 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Braselton’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.4) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 46 historic buildings, 30.3 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 37%

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 Braselton’s 30.3 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 46 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1884.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Braselton’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.A historic districtThe Braselton Historic District takes in 46 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Braselton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Braselton’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 viewGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newt…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 46 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
46
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Braselton Historic District
Braselton Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Neoclassical Revival1
Tudor Revival1
English Vernacular Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Braselton Historic DistrictLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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

The story

How Braselton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Braselton.

Read it all →

The first permanent settlement at Braselton was made in 1884. The town is named after Harrison Braselton, a poor dirt farmer who married Susan Hosch, the daughter of a rich plantation owner. Braselton built a home on 786 acres (318 ha) of land he purchased north of the Hosch Plantation. The land he purchased was later called Braselton. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Braselton as a town in 1916.

In 1989 actress and Georgia native Kim Basinger and other investors bought 1,751 acres (709 ha) of the town's 2,000 privately owned acres for $20 million from Braselton Brothers Inc, intending to turn it into a tourist destination. In 1995, facing personal bankruptcy, she and her partners sold the land for $4.3 million.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Braselton, 1884 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884
    FoundingBraselton is established
  3. 1892Born hereThomas Hoyt Davis is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Braselton post office opens
  6. 1932Born hereCharles L. Waddell is born here
  7. 1940In the archiveGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)
  8. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Braselton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Georgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)1940Georgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (par…
1950s–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
Today5 recent
Cover Sheet and map - 1957 Telephone Exchange Building, Southeast corner of Wall Street and State Route 532009Cover Sheet and map - 1957 Telephone Exchange Buildin…MapCover Sheet and Site Map - Braselton, Main intersection of State Route 124 and State Route 532009Cover Sheet and Site Map - Braselton, Main intersecti…MapCover Sheet and Site Map - Braselton, Main intersection of State Route 124 and State Route 532009Cover Sheet and Site Map - Braselton, Main intersecti…MapAmerican winery Chateau Elan2006American winery Chateau ElanGAMap-doton-Braselton2005GAMap-doton-Braselton
On the map

Braselton on the map, 1964 to 1993

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

Braselton on the 1964 USGS mapBraselton on the 1993 USGS map1964Auburn 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 Braselton.

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.

Georgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)
Retake this viewGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part), 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Braselton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00019201940196019802000202013,403

Grew from 148 people in 1920 to 13,403 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Braselton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Thomas Hoyt DavisUnited States federal judge · b. 1892
Charles L. WaddellAmerican politician · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Braselton’s post office has been open since 1906.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Thompsons Mill
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Braselton
BraseltonBraselton CityZion

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mulberry1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoschton2 historic placesC

Questions about Braselton’s history

What year was Braselton founded?

In 1884, according to Wikidata. Braselton’s post office opened in 1906, and the census of 1920 counted 148 people here.

How does Braselton rank for history?

Braselton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #165 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.

What is on the National Register in Braselton?

One place: the Braselton Historic District (listed 2001).

How old are the homes in Braselton?

0.0% of Braselton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2011.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.