Griffin dates to 1840, and 13 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #56 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Griffin was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 13 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 93 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1841.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Griffin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Griffin is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #56 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Griffin’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 Griffin’s 47.6 sits above most of its state (66% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 113 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1840.
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 →
What stands out about Griffin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Griffin, building by building, 1885–1915
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.
The Macon and Western Railroad was extended to a new station in Griffin in 1842.
In 1938, Alma Lovell had been distributing religious Bible tracts as a Jehovah's Witness but was arrested for violating a city ordinance requiring prior permission for distributing literature. In Lovell v. City of Griffin, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the city had violated her First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The Griffin Commercial Historic District (among the National Register of Historic Places listings in Spalding County, Georgia) is generally bounded by Central Alley, Sixth Street, Taylor Street and Eighth Street. The district includes the Griffin Grocery Company Building, now the Griffin Regional Welcome Center.
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.
In 1840, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Griffin’s post office opened in 1841, and the census of 1850 counted 2,320 people here.
How does Griffin rank for history?
Griffin is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #56 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 Griffin?
13 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Mills House (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Griffin Commercial Historic District, with 93 contributing buildings. 113 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Griffin?
7% of Griffin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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.
1890
1917
1917