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History · Loretto

Loretto’s post office opened in 1833, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1870.

1833first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Loretto began

When was Loretto founded?

1833

The Loretto post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1866.

First census: 42 in 18702020 census: 723193 years
Founding year: the first Loretto post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1866.The full story ↓

What stands out about Loretto’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 Loretto are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 985 in 1970; 723 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Loretto.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Loretto’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Loretto, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 985

Peaked at 985 in 1970; 723 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Timeline

Loretto, 1833 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Loretto post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930Born hereJ. Bruce Saltsman is born here
  5. 1952Born hereWilliam Medley is born here
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 985
The story

How Loretto came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Loretto.

Read it all →

The city takes its name from the Sisters of Loretto, a Catholic congregation founded in 1812 at nearby St. Mary. The sisters themselves were named for Loreto in Italy, the site of the Basilica della Santa Casa which supposedly contains the original home of the Virgin Mary.

The sisters began a school at the site to educate the frontier children. By 1833, the community was large enough for its own post office. It was formally incorporated in 1866.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Loretto, decade by decade

Today18 recent
20220819-DSC03936202220220819-DSC0393620220819-DSC03935202220220819-DSC0393520220819-DSC03931-Edit202220220819-DSC03931-Edit20220819-DSC03929202220220819-DSC0392920220819-DSC03926202220220819-DSC0392620220819-DSC03925202220220819-DSC0392520220819-DSC03917202220220819-DSC0391720220819-DSC03916202220220819-DSC0391620220819-DSC03915202220220819-DSC03915Catholic Pioneers 19-10-19 8142019Catholic Pioneers 19-10-19 814Catholic Pioneers 19-10-19 8132019Catholic Pioneers 19-10-19 813Loretto-sign-ky2017Loretto-sign-kyLoretto-post-office-ky2017Loretto-post-office-kyLoretto-KY52-ky2017Loretto-KY52-kyLoretto-KY52-KY49-ky2017Loretto-KY52-KY49-kyLoretto-FD-ky2017Loretto-FD-kyLoretto-City-Hall-ky2017Loretto-City-Hall-kyLoretto-Big-Mommas-ky2017Loretto-Big-Mommas-ky
On the map

Loretto on the map, 1953 to 1987

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

Loretto on the 1953 USGS mapLoretto on the 1987 USGS map1953Loretto sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Loretto

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
W
William MedleyCatholic bishop · b. 1952
J
J. Bruce SaltsmanFormer Commissioner for the Tennessee Departmen… · b. 1930

Questions about Loretto’s history

What year was Loretto founded?

The Loretto post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1866.

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 (18), 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) 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.