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C−History
History · Brookhaven

Brookhaven’s post office opened in 1923, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #207 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Most of Brookhaven was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1940.

1923first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Brookhaven began

When was Brookhaven founded?

1923

The Brookhaven post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 2012. Another post office, Oglethorpe University (1916), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,365 in 19402020 census: 55,161103 years

How historic is Brookhaven?

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 Brookhaven post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2012.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Brookhaven’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookhaven is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #207 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brookhaven’s overall grade.
Founding era1923, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19401.9% of homes (±0.7) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 4 historic buildings, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 21%

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 Brookhaven’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (35% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2012.

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 Brookhaven’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brookhaven’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brookhaven’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 viewAd in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Brookhaven came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brookhaven.

Read it all →

Brookhaven's first permanent European settler was John Evins, who started a plantation around 1810. Harris and Solomon Goodwin, who moved to Georgia from South Carolina, became owners of the land in the 1830s. The Goodwin home and the family graveyard have been preserved at the 3900 block of Peachtree Road, near Dresden Drive. A train station known as Goodwin's was constructed along the Atlanta and Richmond (later Atlanta and Charlotte) railway in 1873.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brookhaven, 1914 to 1966

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914In the archiveAd in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1914, offering Oglethorpe Park lots for sale, today…
  3. 1916Post officeThe Oglethorpe University post office opens
  4. 1923Post officeThe Brookhaven post office opens
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1955Post officeThe Brookhaven post office closes
  7. 1956Post officeThe Oglethorpe University post office closes
  8. 1966Born hereDale Boone is born here
By decade

Brookhaven, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Ad in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1914, offering Oglethorpe Park lots for sale, today part of1914Ad in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1914, offering …
1920s–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
Atlanta-suburbs2010Atlanta-suburbsPerimeter Center2009Perimeter CenterDunwoody, GA2009Dunwoody, GABrookhaven, GA2009Brookhaven, GABrookhavenCapitalCityGolfCourse2008BrookhavenCapitalCityGolfCourse
On the map

Brookhaven on the map, 1954 to 1993

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

Brookhaven on the 1954 USGS mapBrookhaven on the 1968 USGS mapBrookhaven on the 1973 USGS mapBrookhaven on the 1983 USGS mapBrookhaven on the 1993 USGS map1954Northeast Atlanta 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 Brookhaven.

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.

Ad in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1914, offering Oglethorpe Park lots for sale, today part of
Retake this viewAd in Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1914, offering Oglethorpe Park lots for sale, today part of, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 4 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
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Oglethorpe University Historic District
Oglethorpe University Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Late Gothic Revival1
Collegiate Gothic1
Oglethorpe University Historic DistrictLate Gothic Revival

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

People over time

Brookhaven, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,0001940196019802000202055,161

Grew from 1,365 people in 1940 to 55,161 in 2020, more than tenfold.

8 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Brookhaven had its own post office from 1923 to 1955. Another post office, Oglethorpe University, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Oglethorpe University
1916–1956
Brookhaven
1923–1955
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Goodwin CrossingNorth Atlanta

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.

Chamblee2 historic placesC+North Druid HillsIts storyDAtlanta231 historic placesADunwoody2 historic placesCSandy Springs2 historic placesD

Questions about Brookhaven’s history

What year was Brookhaven founded?

The Brookhaven post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2012.

How does Brookhaven rank for history?

Brookhaven is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #207 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 Brookhaven?

One place: the Oglethorpe University Historic District (listed 1994).

How old are the homes in Brookhaven?

2% of Brookhaven’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1994.

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.