Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ringgold

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B+History
History · Ringgold

Ringgold dates to 1846, and 6 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #68 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Most of Ringgold was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1870.

1846founded
6on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
14old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ringgold’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ringgold began, and where its name came from

When was Ringgold founded?

1846

Ringgold dates its founding to 1846 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 316 in 18702020 census: 3,414180 years

How did Ringgold get its name?

Ringgold was named after Samuel Ringgold, a hero of the Battle of Palo Alto in the Mexican–American War.

How historic is Ringgold?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1847. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ringgold’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ringgold is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #68 of 263 in Georgia. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ringgold’s overall grade.
Founding era1846, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.9% of homes (±4.8) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register6 listings, 13 historic buildings, 37.8 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 74%

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 Ringgold’s 37.8 sits above most of its state (65% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1846.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Ringgold’s past

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

A town in old photos14 old photos, postcards and papers, 1861–1995.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsEstablished in 1846: 180 years of Ringgold.
★ What stands out · By decade

Ringgold, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s6 items
Headquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas1861Headquarters of Gen. Geo. H. ThomasGeorgia, Ringold, General view ofc. 1862Georgia, Ringold, General view ofBattle of Ringgold, Ga1863Battle of Ringgold, GaBattle of Ringgold, Ga., Nov. 26, 18631863Battle of Ringgold, Ga., Nov. 26, 1863Reunion of British War Missions To the United States Collection Q451821864Reunion of British War Missions To the United States …The Jobe house. Ringgold, Ga1864The Jobe house. Ringgold, Ga
1990s8 items
DETAIL OF THE NORTHWEST STONE ABUTMENT OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING NORTHWEST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-0034…1995DETAIL OF THE NORTHWEST STONE ABUTMENT OF GOVERNMENT …DETAIL OF THE SOUTHEAST BALUSTRADE OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING SOUTHEAST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, …1995DETAIL OF THE SOUTHEAST BALUSTRADE OF GOVERNMENT BRID…DETAIL OF THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF THE SUBSTRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING NORTHEAST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-0…1995DETAIL OF THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF THE SUBSTRUCTURE OF G…VIEW OF THE NORTHEAST APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING SOUTHWEST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, Coun…1995VIEW OF THE NORTHEAST APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, …VIEW OF THE NORTHWEST ELEVATION OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING SOUTHWEST - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, Coun…1995VIEW OF THE NORTHWEST ELEVATION OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE,…VIEW OF THE SOUTHEAST BALUSTRADE OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING SOUTHEAST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, Co…1995VIEW OF THE SOUTHEAST BALUSTRADE OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE…VIEW OF THE SOUTHEAST ELEVATION OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING NORTHWEST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, Cou…1995VIEW OF THE SOUTHEAST ELEVATION OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE,…VIEW OF THE SOUTHWEST APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING NORTHEAST. - Georgia DOT Bridge No. 047-00820F-00347E, Coun…1995VIEW OF THE SOUTHWEST APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, …
Today2 recent
Catoosa County Courthouse2009Catoosa County CourthouseGAMap-doton-Ringgold2005GAMap-doton-Ringgold
On the National Register

6 historic places in Ringgold

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Whitman-Anderson House
Whitman-Anderson HouseRinggold Depot, built 1850Stone ChurchRinggold Commercial Historic DistrictCatoosa County Courthouse, built 1939Ringgold Gap Battlefield
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Neo-Georgian Colonial1
Stripped Classical1
Colonial Revival1
Whitman-Anderson HouseNeo-Georgian Colonial
Ringgold DepotBuilt 1850
Stone ChurchBuilding
Ringgold Commercial Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Catoosa County CourthouseColonial Revival · Built 1939
Ringgold Gap BattlefieldDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Ringgold, 1846 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846
    FoundingRinggold is established
  3. 1847Post officeThe Ringgold post office opens
  4. 1850BuiltRinggold Depot is built
  5. 1861In the archiveHeadquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas
  6. 20th century
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1939BuiltCatoosa County Courthouse is built
  9. 1995In the archiveDETAIL OF THE NORTHWEST STONE ABUTMENT OF GOVERNMENT BRIDGE, FACING NORTHWEST. - Georgia …
The story

How Ringgold came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ringgold.

Read it all →

Ringgold was founded in 1846 and incorporated as a city in 1847. It was named after Samuel Ringgold, a hero of the Battle of Palo Alto in the Mexican–American War.

Ringgold is where The General locomotive stopped during the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862. Ringgold is also home to the historic Ringgold Depot, which still contains bullet marks from the Civil War.

ChaptersTornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Ringgold on the map, 1935 to 1983

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

Ringgold on the 1935 USGS mapRinggold on the 1946 USGS mapRinggold on the 1983 USGS map1935Ringgold sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Headquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas
Retake this viewHeadquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, 1861

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ringgold, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,580

Between 316 and 3,580 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Ringgold’s post office has been open since 1847.

Hamlets and corners on the map
GreenwoodStone ChurchSugartown
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ringgold
Anderson Memorial GardensNathan Anderson HistoricOld Ringgold

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

Help out

Finish Ringgold’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHeadquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ringgold’s history

What year was Ringgold founded?

In 1846, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ringgold’s post office opened in 1847, and the census of 1870 counted 316 people here.

How does Ringgold rank for history?

Ringgold is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #68 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 Ringgold?

6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Whitman-Anderson House (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Ringgold Commercial Historic District and the Ringgold Gap Battlefield, with 7 contributing buildings. 13 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Ringgold?

6% of Ringgold’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 2001.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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.