West Point’s post office opened in 1833, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #15 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 479 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
The West Point post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Franklin (1828), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,405 in 18702020 census: 3,719193 years
How historic is West Point?
A
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first West Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives West Point’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Point is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #15 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 West Point’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 West Point’s 1,425 sits above most of its state (98% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 485 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% 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 (±9.2 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 West Point’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.
1885Sheet 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 city's present name comes from its being near the westernmost point of the Chattahoochee River, where the river turns from its southwesterly flow from the Appalachian Mountains to due south – for all practical purposes – and forms the boundary with Alabama. Prior to being named West Point, the area was commonly referred to as Miller's Bend.
The large nearby reservoir, West Point Lake, was created by the Army Corps of Engineers by the building of the West Point Dam, for water storage and hydroelectric power generation. The reservoir stores water which can be released during dry seasons, in order to maintain the water level of the navigable inland waterway from Columbus, Georgia, south to the Gulf of Mexico.
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.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
West Point’s post office has been open since 1833. Another post office, Franklin, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Franklin
1828–1833
West Point
1833–today
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Kerney Memorial ChurchchurchWest Point Academyschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Point
Fort Tyler Cemetery 2Pinewood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about West Point’s history
What year was West Point founded?
The West Point post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does West Point rank for history?
West Point is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #15 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 West Point?
10 listings: 6 buildings, among them the White Hall (listed 1974, the first), and 4 historic districts with 479 contributing buildings. 485 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in West Point?
13% of West Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (10), 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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