Calvert City’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #109 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Calvert City was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listing is the Oak Hill. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1880.
From Calvert City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Calvert City began
When was Calvert City founded?
1872
The Calvert City post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Altona (1870), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 85 in 18802020 census: 2,514154 years
How historic is Calvert City?
C
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Calvert City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Calvert City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calvert City is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #109 of 142 in Kentucky. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calvert City’s overall grade.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Calvert City’s 4.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 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 Calvert City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Calvert City was named for Potilla Willis Calvert. He built his home, Oak Hill, in 1860 and around a decade later gave a portion of his land to a new railroad, specifying that a station be built near his home. That station served as the starting point of the town, which was incorporated on March 18, 1871. The railroad station and post office long favored the shorter Calvert, but the Board on Geographic Names reversed its earlier decision in 1957 and switched to the longer form.
By 1896, Calvert City was known as a sundown town, where African Americans were not allowed to reside. By 1908, the rest of Marshall County had also expelled its African American residents.
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.
The Calvert City post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Calvert City rank for history?
Calvert City is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #109 of 142 in Kentucky. 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 Calvert City?
One place: the Oak Hill (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Calvert City?
3% of Calvert City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1938
2008
2008
