Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #20 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
Most of Thomasville was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 33 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Lapham-Patterson House, a National Historic Landmark, and ten historic districts with 1,269 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Thomasville dates its founding to 1825 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thomasville is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #20 of 263 in Georgia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Thomasville’s 698 sits above most of its state (93% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 1,302 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thomasville’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Thomasville.
Thomasville was founded in 1825 as seat of the newly formed Thomas County. It was incorporated as a town in 1831 and as a city in 1889. The community was named for Jett Thomas, a general in the War of 1812.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltWright House is builtBuiltEphraim Ponder House is built
In the archive18660509 Goober Peas - lyrics - Thomasville Southern Enterprise (Georgia)
Born hereThomas W. Hardwick is born hereBuiltLapham-Patterson House is built
In the archiveCourthouse and artesian wellBuiltPark Front is built
Born hereJoanne Woodward is born here
Born hereDina Titus is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJoelle Carter is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thomasville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Thomasville.
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.
1885Sheet 4 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Thomasville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,651 people in 1870 to 18,881 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Thomasville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Thomasville’s post office has been open since 1827.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1825, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Thomasville’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1870 counted 1,651 people here.
Thomasville is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #20 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.
33 listings: 20 buildings, among them the Lapham-Patterson House (a National Historic Landmark since 1973) and the Augustine Hansell House (listed 1970, the first), and 13 historic districts with 1,269 contributing buildings. 1,302 historic buildings in all.
10% of Thomasville’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 1977.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (33), 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.
1884
