Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Boyd and Sallie Gilleland House · Photo: Gwringle · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #188 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Dawsonville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Its Register listings are the Dawson County Courthouse, the Dawson Couty Jail and the Boyd and Sallie Gilleland House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.
Dawsonville dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dawsonville is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #188 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 Dawsonville’s 6.8 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Dawsonville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dawsonville. 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 Dawsonville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dawsonville.
Dawsonville was founded in 1857 as seat of the newly formed Dawson County. It was incorporated as a town in 1859 and as a city in 1952. The community and the county are named for U.S. Senator William Crosby Dawson.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…
Born hereBill Elliott is born here
Born hereChase Elliott is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2015Dawson County Courthouse, Georgia
2014Old Dawson County, GA Jail
2014Old Dawson County, GA Jail, NE View
2013NTSB Media Briefing on the Crash of a Piper PA-46
2011Len foote hike inn trail amicalola falls ga
2011Len foote hike inn trail amicalola falls ga - panoram…
2011Len foote hike inn trail amicalola falls ga - panoram…
2011Len foote hike inn trail amicalola falls ga - panoram…
2011Len foote hike inn amicalola falls ga
2006Dawson County Georgia Courthouse
2005GAMap-doton-DawsonvilleNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2887/b326ed3d4fd33625dba0-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dawsonville’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 199 people in 1880 to 3,720 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dawsonville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Dawsonville’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 199 people here.
Dawsonville is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #188 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.
Three places: the Dawson County Courthouse (listed 1980), the Dawson Couty Jail (1985) and the Boyd and Sallie Gilleland House (2009).
0.0% of Dawsonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
