Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #120 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Calhoun was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 44 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1870.
The Calhoun post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Oothcaloga (1846), Mc Daniels (1874) and Mc Henry (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calhoun is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #120 of 263 in Georgia. 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 Calhoun’s 24.7 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 45 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calhoun’s history is told.
Calhoun’s post office has been open since 1852. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Calhoun.
In December 1827, Georgia had already claimed the Cherokee lands that became Gordon County and other counties. A small town called "Dawsonville" was created and founded in Gordon County, named for the owner of an early general store. Dawsonville was later renamed "Calhoun" to honor U.S. Senator John C. Calhoun, following his death in 1850.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereElias Boudinot is born here
Born hereWilliam Thompson is born here
In the archiveRogers, Mrs. B.R., home
In the archiveGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMcCartney Kessler is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Calhoun.
1972Calhoun North sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Calhoun.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1911Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Calhoun’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 427 people in 1870 to 16,949 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Calhoun’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Calhoun post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Calhoun is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #120 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 Calhoun Depot (listed 1982) and the Calhoun Downtown Historic District (2011).
6% of Calhoun’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (11), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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