The story
Read it all →How Nicholls came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Nicholls.
Nicholls was founded in 1895. The city was named for John C. Nicholls, a U.S. Representative from Georgia.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Nicholls
Nicholls dates to 1895
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #193 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Nicholls was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1910.
1895founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Quick answers
How Nicholls began
When was Nicholls founded?
1895
Nicholls dates its founding to 1895 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.
First census: 720 in 19102020 census: 3,147131 years
How historic is Nicholls?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nicholls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nicholls is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #193 of 263 in Georgia. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nicholls’ overall grade.
Founding era1895, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.7% of homes (±5.7) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical GA town 10.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 27%
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 Nicholls’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points). Two sources give 1895.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Nicholls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Nicholls’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nicholls’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Nicholls, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nicholls’ Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Nicholls, 1895 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1895FoundingNicholls is established
- 20th century
- 1927Born hereHamp Tanner is born here
- 1940
In the archiveFlorida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingh… - 1971
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1984Born hereAdrian Grady is born here
- 21st century
- 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,147
By decade
Nicholls, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 albumToday11 recent
2015Nicholls Baptist Church corner stone
2015Nicholls Baptist Church corner stone EPH 2 20
2015Family Dollar
2015Dollar General
2010General Coffee State Park
2010General Coffee State Park - panoramio (9)
2010General Coffee State Park - panoramio (8)
2010General Coffee State Park - panoramio (7)
2010General Coffee State Park - panoramio (6)
2010General Coffee State Park - panoramio (2)
2005GAMap-doton-NichollsOn the map
Nicholls on the map, 1971 to 1988
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nicholls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Nicholls sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Nicholls.
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.
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2666/e6479102c6f2942f6d75-l.jpg)
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 Nicholls’ page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Nicholls
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Nicholls’ history
What year was Nicholls founded?
In 1895, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1910 counted 720 people here.
How does Nicholls rank for history?
Nicholls is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #193 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.
How old are the homes in Nicholls?
7% of Nicholls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.