The story
Read it all →How Sylvester came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Sylvester.
Sylvester was platted in 1893. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Sylvester as a town in 1898.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Sylvester
Sylvester’s post office opened in 1882, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #124 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Sylvester was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 65 buildings. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1900.
1882first post office
4on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
7famous people
Quick answers
How Sylvester began
When was Sylvester founded?
1882
The Sylvester post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1893.
First census: 552 in 19002020 census: 5,644144 years
How historic is Sylvester?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sylvester post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sylvester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sylvester is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #124 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sylvester’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.3% of homes (±3.1) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register4 listings, 68 historic buildings, 124 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 53%
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 Sylvester’s 124 sits above most of its state (73% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 68 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Sylvester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Sylvester’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sylvester’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
4 listings protect 68 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
68
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Worth County Local Building
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Beaux Arts2
Colonial Revival2
International Style2
Neo-Classical1
Neoclassical1
Victorian Commercial1
Worth County Local BuildingBeaux Arts
Worth County CourthouseNeo-Classical
Sylvester Commercial Historic DistrictBeaux Arts
US Post Office-SylvesterInternational Style
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Timeline
Sylvester, 1882 to 1991
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Sylvester, decade by decade
2024
2018
2018
2017
2017
2017
2015
2011
2005On the map
Sylvester on the map, 1956 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sylvester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Sylvester sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sylvester.
Every building
Sylvester, building by building, 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 sheet.
1911Sheet 1 of 3BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Sylvester, census by census
Between 552 and 6,188 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sylvester’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →7 famous people were born in Sylvester
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Sylvester’s post office has been open since 1882.
Gone or out of use
Oak Hill High SchoolschoolSylvester Consolidated Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Sylvester
Hillcrest
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Sylvester’s history
What year was Sylvester founded?
The Sylvester post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.
How does Sylvester rank for history?
Sylvester is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #124 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 Sylvester?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Worth County Local Building (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Sylvester Commercial Historic District, with 65 contributing buildings. 68 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Sylvester?
3% of Sylvester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.