Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Paintsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paintsville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #41 of 142 in Kentucky. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Paintsville’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 Paintsville’s 47.6 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 20 listings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). Two sources give 1834.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Paintsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A Paint Lick Station was referred to in United States Army dispatches as early as 1780. The site was named for tribal art painted on the debarked trees near a local salt lick when the first white settlers arrived and was originally part of a 19,050-acre (7,710 ha) tract belonging to George Lewis. The trading post was purchased by Henery Dixon from North Carolina in 1812 and laid out as the town of Paint Lick Station in 1826. The town was formally established under that name in 1834, although the post office was probably named Paint Creek. It was incorporated as a city under its present name of Paintsville in 1843, the same year it became the county seat of Johnson County.
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 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Paintsville’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1870 counted 247 people here.
How does Paintsville rank for history?
Paintsville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #41 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 Paintsville?
20 listings: 20 buildings, among them the John C. C. Mayo Mansion and Office (listed 1974, the first).
How old are the homes in Paintsville?
12% of Paintsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (20), 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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