Most of Louisville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 41 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1796.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Louisville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Louisville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Louisville’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 Louisville’s 202 sits above most of its state (79% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 43 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). Two sources give 1786.
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 →
What stands out about Louisville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Louisville was incorporated on January 26, 1786, as the prospective state capital, though it did not become so for a decade. Savannah had served as the colonial capital, but was considered too far from the center of population in the growing state, and Augusta became the state capital in the 1780s.
Louisville was named for Louis XVI, who had aided the Continentals during the American Revolutionary War and was still the King of France when the decision to incorporate the city was made. Development of the city took years, and its state government buildings were completed in 1795. An old Revolutionary War soldiers' cemetery is located on the western side of town.
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.
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 viewHABS GA,82-LOUVI,1- (sheet 0 of 1) - Slave Market, Public Square, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Louisville’s page.
Louisville’s post office has been open since 1796.
Gone or out of use
Jefferson County Training SchoolschoolLouisville District School Number 1school
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Louisville’s history
What year was Louisville founded?
In 1786, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Louisville’s post office opened in 1796, and the census of 1810 counted 524 people here.
How does Louisville rank for history?
Louisville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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 Louisville?
Three places: the Old Market (listed 1978), the Jefferson County Courthouse (1980) and the Louisville Commercial Historic District (1994).
How old are the homes in Louisville?
9% of Louisville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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