Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1910.
McCaysville first appears in the census in 1910.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McCaysville is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 McCaysville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first census (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 McCaysville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McCaysville. 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 McCaysville.
Peaked at 2,166 in 1920; 1,149 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McCaysville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of McCaysville.
Prior to European colonization, the area that is now McCaysville was inhabited by the Cherokee people and other Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJoe Tipton is born here
2015McCaysville, Georgia City Hall
2015McCaysville Downtown
2015McCaysville Downtown - panoramio (1)
2015McCaysville City Hall
2015Grand Street
2015Georgia-Tennessee border going through buildings
2015Georgia-Tennessee Line, McCaysville-Copperhill
2015Georgia Route 5 in
2008Tulips
2008Pink Dogwood
2008Pickin in the Park, Horseshoe Bend Park
2005GAMap-doton-McCaysvilleOld 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).
The McCaysville post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
McCaysville is more historic than 28% 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.
24% of McCaysville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.9 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (12), 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.
