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History · Tennyson

Tennyson’s post office opened in 1881, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1900.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Tennyson began

When was Tennyson founded?

1881

The Tennyson post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 302 in 19002020 census: 213145 years
Founding year: the first Tennyson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tennyson’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Tennyson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1988. Watch Tennyson change.Boom and bustPeaked at 409 in 1950; 213 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tennyson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tennyson’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Tennyson on the map, 1900 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tennyson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Tennyson on the 1900 USGS mapTennyson on the 1960 USGS mapTennyson on the 1988 USGS map1900De Gonia Springs sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tennyson.

People over time

Tennyson, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 409

Peaked at 409 in 1950; 213 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tennyson’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Tennyson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tennyson.

Read it all →

A post office has been in operation at Tennyson since 1881. A town plat was made in about 1882. The town was named after George Martin Van Buren Tennyson.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Tennyson in 1909

Passages that mention Tennyson, cut from the printed page as they were published.

away, and in 1809 refinement and culture marked the English rector's home. We have little knowledge of the earlier education of Tennyson but we find that he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, the college of poets. He withdrew from the University on the death of his father, without having taken his…
From poet to premier1909Read the page →
Read the text

away, and in 1809 refinement and culture marked the English rector's home. We have little knowledge of the earlier education of Tennyson but we find that he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, the college of poets. He withdrew from the University on the death of his father, without having taken his degree. It is amazing how

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Tennyson, 1881 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Tennyson post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 409
By decade

Tennyson, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Tennyson-Town-Hall-in2018Tennyson-Town-Hall-inTennyson-RR-tracks-in2018Tennyson-RR-tracks-inTennyson-Post-Office-in2018Tennyson-Post-Office-inTennyson-National-Bank-building-in2018Tennyson-National-Bank-building-inTennyson-Main-south-in2018Tennyson-Main-south-inTennyson-Main-in2018Tennyson-Main-inTennyson-IOOF-in2018Tennyson-IOOF-in
Famous people

Famous people close to Tennyson

Nobody well known was born in Tennyson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Florence HendersonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1934
Bill PeetArtist, illustrator, author, animator and story… · b. 1915
Jay CutlerAmerican football player, quarterback · b. 1983
James A. HemenwayAmerican politician · b. 1860
Robert G. RoederAmerican biologist · b. 1942
B
Bumper TormohlenAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1937

Questions about Tennyson’s history

What year was Tennyson founded?

The Tennyson post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.