The story
Read it all →How Cecil came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cecil.
A post office called Cecil was established in 1888. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Cecil as a town in 1890.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Cecil
Cecil’s post office opened in 1888
Most of Cecil was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1890.
1888first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Cecil began
When was Cecil founded?
1888
The Cecil post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 203 in 18902020 census: 284138 years
Founding year: the first Cecil post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Cecil’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cecil’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cecil’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Cecil, census by census
Peaked at 394 in 1900; 284 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cecil’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Cecil, 1888 to 1973
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1888Post officeThe Cecil post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 394
- 1973
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Cecil, decade by decade
Today12 recent
2014Former hotel (SW corner)
2014Former hotel (SE corner)
2014Family World Motel and Citgo
2014Family World Motel (West face)
2013Georgia I75nb Exit 32
2012Cecil Post Office
2012Cecil Fire Department
2012Cecil Baptist Church
2012Bray Commissary from south
2012Bray Commissary from east
2005GAMap-doton-Cecil
2001Cecil Fire Station 2001On the map
Cecil on the map in 1973
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cecil.
1973Cecil 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 Cecil.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Cecil
Nobody well known was born in Cecil itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about Cecil’s history
What year was Cecil founded?
The Cecil post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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.