Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #67 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 120 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1900.
The Metter post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Metter is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #67 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold 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 Metter’s 308 sits above most of its state (84% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 123 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Metter’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Metter.
Metter was founded in 1889. In 1914, Metter was designated seat of the newly formed Candler County. Metter was incorporated as a town in 1903 and as a city in 1920.
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
2016Metter High School
2015Candler County Jail
2007MetterGeorgiaHeronFountainDowntownPark
2007MetterGeorgiaDowntownViewingFromSouthWestToNorthEast
2007MetterGeorgiaDownTownViewNorthWest
2007MetterGeorgiaDownTownLookingTowardsCourtHouse
20072007 GuidoGardensLightDisplay 2
20072007 GuidoGardensLightDisplay 1
2005GAMap-doton-MetterEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Metter. 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 Metter.
Between 213 and 4,130 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Metter’s Wikipedia page.
Metter’s post office has been open since 1884.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Metter post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.
Metter is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #67 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: 3 buildings, among them the Candler County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), and 2 historic districts, the South Metter Residential Historic District and the Metter Downtown Historic District, with 120 contributing buildings. 123 historic buildings in all.
14% of Metter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (9), Wikidata (2), 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) 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.
