Most of Eddyville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1800.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Eddyville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eddyville is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eddyville’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 Eddyville’s 44.9 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). Two sources give 1798.
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 Eddyville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Eddyville, the seat of Lyon County, was settled around 1798 and named for the eddies in the nearby Cumberland River. It became the seat of Livingston County when the county was formed in 1799; then the seat of Caldwell County upon its formation in 1809; and finally the seat of Lyon County upon its establishment in 1854. Thus, it holds the distinction of being the only city in Kentucky to have served as the county seat of three separate counties. The Eddyville post office opened in 1801.
The modern steel producing technique, known as the Bessemer Process, was first discovered by William Kelly in Eddyville in the 1850s.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eddyville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1931Eddyville 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 Eddyville.
Every building
Eddyville, building by building, 1905–1910
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.
In 1798, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Eddyville’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1800 counted 69 people here.
How does Eddyville rank for history?
Eddyville is more historic than 60% 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 Eddyville?
One place: the Old Eddyville Historic District (listed 1981).
How old are the homes in Eddyville?
3% of Eddyville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2019
