Tallapoosa’s post office opened in 1832, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #14 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 186 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Tallapoosa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tallapoosa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tallapoosa is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #14 of 263 in Georgia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tallapoosa’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 Tallapoosa’s 576 sits above most of its state (91% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 186 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.1 points). 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 Tallapoosa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Tallapoosa as a town in 1860. The community lends its name to the Tallapoosa River.
The name "Tallapoosa" is derived from the Creek words "Talwa" (town) and "Puse" (grandmother).
The name first appeared on Georgia maps in the 19th century, notably around the 1820s. The name "Tallapoosee" was used to refer to the Tallapoosa River and surrounding regions. The spelling reflects documentation and naming conventions of the time, prior to the more standardized spelling "Tallapoosa" that became common later.
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.
Grew from 52 people in 1880 to 3,227 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tallapoosa’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Tallapoosa’s post office has been open since 1832.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Tallapoosa
Gone or out of use
Bethel Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchMount Sinai Baptist ChurchchurchTallapoosa High SchoolschoolTallapoosa Male and Female CollgeschoolTallapoosa Public Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Tallapoosa
Hollywood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Tallapoosa’s history
What year was Tallapoosa founded?
The Tallapoosa post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tallapoosa rank for history?
Tallapoosa is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Tallapoosa?
Two places: the North Tallapoosa Residential Historic District (listed 2003) and the Tallapoosa Commercial Historic District (2016).
How old are the homes in Tallapoosa?
17% of Tallapoosa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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