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History · Lyerly

Lyerly’s post office opened in 1889, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1900.

1889first post office

0on the National Register

11%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Lyerly’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Lyerly began

When was Lyerly founded?

1889

The Lyerly post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 234 in 19002020 census: 454137 years

Founding year: the first Lyerly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lyerly’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18865 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1981. Watch Lyerly change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lyerly’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lyerly’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washi…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Lyerly on the map, 1886 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lyerly. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1886Rome sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lyerly.

The story

How Lyerly came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lyerly.

Read it all →

A post office called Lyerly has been in operation since 1889, when a small town began to develop around a depot constructed by the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad. The post office was moved from the nearby town of Melville, which had gone bankrupt that same year. The new town, which incorporated in 1891, may have been named for Charles A. Lyerly, a banker from Tennessee who had made several real estate investments in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lyerly, 1886 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1889Post officeThe Lyerly post office opens
20th century
1940In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh…

By decade

Lyerly, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item

Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]

1940Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] …

1950s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Today5 recent

2017Lyerly-post-office-ga

2017Lyerly-Town-Hall-ga

2017Lyerly-Highway-114-ga

2017Lyerly-Alpine-Street-ga

2005GAMap-doton-Lyerly

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 viewFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)], 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lyerly’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Lyerly, census by census

Between 234 and 540 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lyerly’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lyerly

Nobody well known was born in Lyerly itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Sterling HollowayAmerican actor · b. 1905

Butch WalkerAmerican musician and record producer · b. 1969

Sam HuntAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1984

Arn AndersonAmerican professional wrestler, road agent and … · b. 1958

McCartney KesslerUS American tennis player · b. 1999

William ThompsonAmerican archer · b. 1848

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Lyerly’s post office has been open since 1889.

Gone or out of use

Lyerly High Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lyerly’s history

What year was Lyerly founded?

The Lyerly post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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.

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