Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 160 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
The Fulton post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fulton Station (1862), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fulton is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Fulton’s 677 sits above most of its state (94% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 161 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Peaked at 3,502 in 1930; 2,357 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fulton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fulton.
A post office was established in the community, then known as "Pontotoc", in 1847. The post office was renamed "Fulton" in 1861. It was formally incorporated by the state assembly in 1872. Fulton Station was located on the Paducah and Gulf Railroad, which stimulated growth in the county.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky - Fulton County - Fulton - ED 38-1, ED 3…
Born hereBurton Rascoe is born here
Born hereE. S. Johnny Walker is born here
Born hereBlaine Denning is born here
In the archiveFulton KY - Lake Street (NBY 429151)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1941Fulton KY - Lake Street (NBY 429151)Postcard
1941Fulton KY - Lake Street (NBY 429152)Postcard
1941Fulton KY - State Line Street (NBY 429157)Postcard
1941Fulton KY - State Line Street (NBY 429158)Postcard
1941Fulton KY - Fulton Country Club (NBY 429163)
1941Fulton KY - Fulton Country Club (NBY 429164)
1941Fulton KY - Fulton High School (NBY 429166)
1941Fulton KY - Fulton High School (NBY 429167)Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fulton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fulton.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fulton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Fulton’s post office has been open since 1861. Another post office, Fulton Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Fulton post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fulton is more historic than 68% 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.
5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Jesse Whitesell House (listed 1977, the first), 3 historic districts, the Carr Historic District, the Fulton Downtown Historic District and the Jesse Whitesell Farm, with 160 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 161 historic buildings in all.
12% of Fulton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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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