Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #146 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Cornelia was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1890.
Cornelia dates its founding to 1860 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cornelia is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #146 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 Cornelia’s 106 sits above most of its state (71% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 Cornelia.
Cornelia was originally called "Blaine", and under the latter name had its start in the early 1870s when the Charlotte Airline Railroad was extended to that point. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the place in 1887 as the "Town of Cornelia".
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.
In the archiveApple monument at depot of Cornelia, GeorgiaBuiltChenocetah Fire Tower is built
In the archiveGeorgia [Effingham County (part) - Newton County (part)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRalston Cash is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cornelia. 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 Cornelia.
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 Cornelia’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 175 people in 1890 to 4,503 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cornelia’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Cornelia’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Blaine, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1860, according to Wikidata. Cornelia’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1890 counted 175 people here.
Cornelia is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #146 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.
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Cornelia Community House (listed 1982, the first), 1 historic district, the Cornelia Commercial Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 53 historic buildings in all.
0.7% of Cornelia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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