Eastman’s post office opened in 1870, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #112 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Eastman was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Eastman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Eastman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eastman is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #112 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eastman’s overall grade.
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 Eastman’s 14.3 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Eastman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
6 historic places in Eastman
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The first permanent settlement of the area took place in 1840. The population continued to grow when, in 1869, a station was built for the newly constructed Macon and Brunswick Railroad which passed through the area, stimulating an economic boom. The settlement was originally named Levison and was renamed Eastman by December 1869.
Eastman was designated as the seat of newly formed Dodge County in 1871. It was incorporated as a town in 1873 and as a city in 1905. Eastman is named for W. P. Eastman, who, with W. E. Dodge, presented the county with a courthouse.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Eastman’s history
What year was Eastman founded?
The Eastman post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Eastman rank for history?
Eastman is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #112 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.
What is on the National Register in Eastman?
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Dodge County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), and 1 object. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Eastman?
9% of Eastman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (6), 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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