Most of Warrenton was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 31 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Warrenton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warrenton is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Warrenton’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 Warrenton’s 170 sits above most of its state (78% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 34 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1797.
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 (±4.0 points).
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 Warrenton’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.
1884Sheet 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.
On the National Register
4 listings protect 34 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Warrenton was founded in 1797 as seat of Warren County (est. 1793). It was incorporated as a town in 1810 and as a city in 1908. The community was named for American Revolutionary War general Joseph Warren.
David Bushnell, an inventor who created the first submarine used in battle, settled in Warrenton after the war. He taught at the Warrenton Academy and died there in 1824.
On May 2, 1919, a crowd of three hundred white farmers shot to death and burned the corpse of a black farmer, Benny Richards, who was accused of murdering his own ex-wife.
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.
ParhamSallie HillScott and Labor Home SocietyWarrenton
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Warrenton’s history
What year was Warrenton founded?
In 1797, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Warrenton’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1880 counted 1,022 people here.
How does Warrenton rank for history?
Warrenton is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Warrenton?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Roberts-McGregor House (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Warrenton Downtown Historic District, with 31 contributing buildings. 34 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Warrenton?
6% of Warrenton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (5), Wikidata (2), 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.
c. 1880
2022
2011
2005
