Newnan’s post office opened in 1827, and 12 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #38 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Newnan was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. 12 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 962 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Newnan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Newnan’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newnan is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #38 of 263 in Georgia. 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 Newnan’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 Newnan’s 220 sits above most of its state (80% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 972 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% 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 (±2.1 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 Newnan’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Newnan, building by building, 1885–1911
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.
Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta County (replacing the defunct town of Bullsboro) in 1828, and was named for North Carolinian General Daniel Newnan. It quickly became a prosperous magnet for lawyers, doctors, other professionals, and merchants. Much of Newnan's prosperity was due to its thriving cotton industry, which relied on slavery.
Newnan was largely untouched by the Civil War due to its status as a hospital city (for both Union and Confederate troops), and as a result still features much antebellum architecture. During the Atlanta campaign, Confederate cavalry defeated Union forces at the nearby Battle of Brown's Mill. Subsequently, architect Kennon Perry (1890–1954) designed many of the town's early 20th-century homes.
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.
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.
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 Newnan post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Newnan rank for history?
Newnan is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Newnan?
12 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Coweta County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first), 7 historic districts with 962 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 972 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Newnan?
7% of Newnan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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.
1941
1941
1941
1941
2010
2010
