Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Haralson County Courthouse. Most of Buchanan was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.
Buchanan was named for United States President James Buchanan.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buchanan is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Buchanan’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buchanan’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Buchanan.
Buchanan was founded in 1856 as seat of the newly formed Haralson County. It was named for United States President James Buchanan. Buchanan was incorporated as a town in 1857 and as a city in 1902.
The city is home to one of few one-room schoolhouses surviving in Georgia, the Little Creek One-room Schoolhouse. The state had about 7,000 of them in 1900.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buchanan. 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 Buchanan.
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.
Between 158 and 1,104 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buchanan’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Buchanan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Buchanan is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Haralson County Courthouse (listed 1974).
6% of Buchanan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (6), 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.
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