LaGrange’s post office opened in 1828, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #29 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
14 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Bellevue, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 314 buildings between them. Below: 23 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1850.
The LaGrange post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Troup Court House (1826), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,523 in 18502020 census: 30,858198 years
How historic is LaGrange?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first LaGrange post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives LaGrange’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, LaGrange is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #29 of 263 in Georgia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of LaGrange’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 LaGrange’s 102 sits above most of its state (71% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 328 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% 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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 LaGrange’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
LaGrange is named after the country estate near Paris of the wife of the Marquis de La Fayette. When La Fayette, a Revolutionary War hero, visited Georgia in 1825 on a national tour, he remarked on the similarity of local topography to his wife's property.
The European-American settlement of LaGrange began in the early 19th century, soon after the territory was ceded to the United States by the Creek Indians and the territorial legislature established Troup County. The city was incorporated in December 1828. The area was developed for cotton plantations, and planters migrating from the eastern areas of the South brought along or bought enslaved African Americans in the domestic slave trade to use as laborers.
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.
The LaGrange post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does LaGrange rank for history?
LaGrange is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #29 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 LaGrange?
14 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Bellevue (a National Historic Landmark since 1973), and 5 historic districts with 314 contributing buildings. 328 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in LaGrange?
12% of LaGrange’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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.
★ Landmark
1913
1913
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1960
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
