Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #64 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Jefferson was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 194 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.
Jefferson dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jefferson is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #64 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 Jefferson’s 130 sits above most of its state (74% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 195 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jefferson. 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 Jefferson.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHiram Parks Bell is born here
Born hereGustavus Richard Glenn is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveHISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY L. D. ANDREW - PHOTOGRAPHER MAY 16, 1936 FRONT CORNER …
In the archiveEast Approach, View toward Northwest - Curry Creek Bridge, Spanning Curry Creek at State …
In the archiveJackson County Georgia Courthouse
Born hereCorey Smith is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Jefferson.
Jefferson was founded in 1800. That same year, the seat of Jackson County was transferred to Jefferson from Clarkesboro. Jefferson was incorporated as a town in 1806 and as a city in 1896. The city was named after Thomas Jefferson.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Jefferson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The bridegroom also wore a "homespun" suit, made from start to finish by Mrs. Eliza Boyd, wife of Peter Boyd, who sold the land on which to build the famous town of Jefferson. It was made, as then called, of "walnut dye" jeans, and in strict accordance with the aristocratic notions of the day. His coat was a "claw hammer," and the skirts somewhat resembled a wren's tail. The fit was good and brought out his manly form to great perfection.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
far-away and benighted Abyssinia, has openly expressed a wish to see Jefferson, Most of the potentates of Europe, and all the learned physicians and scientists of the world have desired to visit Jefferson, and many have written about it. In Bristol, England, there is published a medical journal called "The Jeffersonian, " not for Jefferson, the politician ; but for our Jefferson, the mitigator of pain and suffering.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1916Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jefferson’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 419 people in 1880 to 13,233 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jefferson’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Jefferson’s post office has been open since 1806. Another post office, Jackson Court House, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1800, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Jefferson’s post office opened in 1803, and the census of 1880 counted 419 people here.
Jefferson is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #64 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.
5 listings: 1 building, among them the Jackson County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), 3 historic districts, the Jefferson Historic District, the Holder Plantation and the Oak Avenue Historic District, with 194 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 195 historic buildings in all.
3% of Jefferson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1936
1936
1968