Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #156 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Pickens County Jail, the Griffeth-Pendley House and the Pickens County Courthouse. Most of Jasper was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1880.
Jasper dates its founding to 1853 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jasper is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #156 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 Jasper’s 10.8 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jasper’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Jasper.
Jasper was founded in 1853 as seat of the newly formed Pickens County. It was incorporated in 1857 as a town and in 1957 as a city. The community is named for William Jasper, a hero of the American Revolutionary War. Jasper is situated at an elevation of 1,463 feet (446 m).
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.
Born hereFarish Carter Tate is born here
Born hereWeldon Henley is born here
BuiltPickens County Jail is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2015Sharp Mountain in the morning
2015Sharp Mountain in the evening
2015Sharp Mountain - panoramio (4)
2015Pickens High School Band in Washington, DC 2
2015Pickens High School Band in Washington, DC 1
2015Oglethorpe Monument
2015Mount Oglethorpe viewed from
2015Kirby-Quinton cabin
2015Jasper, Georgia downtown
2015Jasper Georgia City Hall
2015Jasper City Hall
2015Georgia State Route 136
2015Downtown
2015Chattahoochee Technical College Jasper campus
2009Trail marker tree
2009Trail marker tree perspective
2007Burnt Mtn Across GrandviewEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jasper. 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 Jasper.
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.
Grew from 146 people in 1880 to 4,084 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jasper’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1853, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Jasper’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1880 counted 146 people here.
Jasper is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #156 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 Pickens County Jail (listed 1984), the Griffeth-Pendley House (2008) and the Pickens County Courthouse (2008).
3% of Jasper’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), 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.
