The story
Read it all →How Hogansville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Hogansville.
The community was named after William Hogan, owner of the original town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · Hogansville
Hogansville’s post office opened in 1847, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #4 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 414 buildings between them. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1880.
1847first post office
5on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
6famous people
Quick answers
How Hogansville began
When was Hogansville founded?
1847
The Hogansville post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 400 in 18802020 census: 3,267179 years
How historic is Hogansville?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hogansville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hogansville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hogansville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #4 of 263 in Georgia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hogansville’s overall grade.
Founding era1847, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194025.8% of homes (±9.8) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register5 listings, 420 historic buildings, 1,294 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)#4 of 263
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 Hogansville’s 1,294 sits above most of its state (97% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 420 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 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 Hogansville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe Stark Mill and Mill Village Historic District takes in 324 historic buildings.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1909, drew every building in Hogansville.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Hogansville.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
5 listings protect 420 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
420
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Phillips, William D., Log Cabin
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Craftsman2
Colonial Revival2
Pyramidal Cottage1
Saddlebag House1
Front-Gable Bungalow1
Greek Revival1
Stark Mill and Mill Village Historic DistrictCraftsman
East Main Street-Johnson Street Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Royal TheaterArt Deco
All 5 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Hogansville, building by building, 1898–1909
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.
1898Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Hogansville, 1847 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1847Post officeThe Hogansville post office opens
- 1884Born hereJ. M. Gates is born here
- 20th century
- 1948Born hereGar Heard is born here
- 1952Born hereAlfred Jenkins is born here
- 1961
Born hereDerek Smith is born here - 1964
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1968
In the archiveEXTERIOR VIEW OF BOILER HOUSE FROM SOUTHWEST. THE BOILER HOUSE WAS USED FOR HEATING THE M… - 1998
In the archiveDETAIL VIEW OF MAIN ELEVATION OF MILL, LOOKING NORTHWEST. NOTE ORIGINAL WINDOWS ON UPPER …
By decade
Hogansville, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1960s–1990s10 items
1968EXTERIOR VIEW OF BOILER HOUSE FROM SOUTHWEST. THE BOI…1998DETAIL VIEW OF MAIN ELEVATION OF MILL, LOOKING NORTHW…
1998INTERIOR OF SECOND FLOOR NEAR CENTER OF BUILDING. THI…
1998INTERIOR OF THIRD FLOOR FROM CENTER FACING SOUTHWEST.…
1998MOTOR AND DRIVE WHEEL FOR ONE SET OF FANS IN SOUTH VE…
1998VIEW INSIDE ONE OF THE FAN CHAMBERS IN NORTH VENTILAT…
1998VIEW OF SOUTHWEST-WEST ELEVATION OF MILL WITH WAREHOU…
1998VIEW OF SOUTHWEST-WEST ELEVATION OF MILL WITH WAREHOU…
1998VIEW OF VENTILATION HOUSES AND ROOF MONITOR FROM SOUT…
1998VIEW OF WEST ELEVATION OF MILL (LEFT), AND PICKER HOU…Today2 recent
2012
2005On the map
Hogansville on the map, 1964 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hogansville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964Hogansville 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 Hogansville.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewEXTERIOR VIEW OF BOILER HOUSE FROM SOUTHWEST. THE BOILER HOUSE WAS USED FOR HEATING THE MILL; HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER FOR …, 1968
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hogansville’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Hogansville, census by census
Between 400 and 3,886 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hogansville’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →6 famous people were born in Hogansville
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old burying grounds
Hogansville’s post office has been open since 1847.
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hogansville
Myrtle HillSaint Mary Methodist ChurchWest ViewWord
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Hogansville’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Questions about Hogansville’s history
What year was Hogansville founded?
The Hogansville post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hogansville rank for history?
Hogansville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #4 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 Hogansville?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Phillips, William D., Log Cabin (listed 1982, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Stark Mill and Mill Village Historic District and the East Main Street-Johnson Street Historic District, with 414 contributing buildings. 420 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hogansville?
26% of Hogansville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1979.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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), 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.