Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Smiths Grove

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Smiths Grove

Smiths Grove’s post office opened in 1827, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 153 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1880.

1827first post office
8on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Smiths Grove began

When was Smiths Grove founded?

1827

The Smiths Grove post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 388 in 18802020 census: 752199 years
Founding year: the first Smiths Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Smiths Grove’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Smiths Grove Historic District takes in 147 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Smiths Grove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1994. Watch Smiths Grove change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

8 listings protect 159 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
159
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
J. L. Wright House
J. L. Wright HouseSmiths Grove Baptist ChurchSmiths Grove Presbyterian ChurchSmiths Grove DistrictSterrett HouseSmiths Grove Historic DistrictCave Spring Farm
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Gothic Revival2
Federal2
Commercial2
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movement1
Commercial Style1
J. L. Wright HouseGreek Revival
Smiths Grove Baptist ChurchGothic Revival
Smiths Grove Presbyterian ChurchGothic Revival
All 8 listings
John Jackson Ford HouseBuilding · listed 1979Smiths Grove DistrictDistrict · listed 1979Sterrett HouseBuilding · listed 1979Smiths Grove Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1987Cave Spring FarmDistrict · listed 1996

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Start Smiths Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smiths Grove’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
The story so far

Smiths Grove, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Smiths Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Smiths Grove is a home rule-class city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 752 as of the 2020 Census. It is included in the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1827. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 714 to 752 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Smiths Grove, 1827 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1827Post officeThe Smiths Grove post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1963Born hereRichie Sanders is born here
By decade

Smiths Grove, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Smiths-Grove-RR-tracks-ky2017Smiths-Grove-RR-tracks-kySmiths Grove Presbyterian Church2014Smiths Grove Presbyterian ChurchSmiths Grove Baptist Church2014Smiths Grove Baptist ChurchMain Street, downtown2014Main Street, downtownJ.L. Wright House2014J.L. Wright HouseMain Street2011Main StreetKYMap-doton-SmithsGrove2004KYMap-doton-SmithsGrove
On the map

Smiths Grove on the map, 1922 to 1994

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

Smiths Grove on the 1922 USGS mapSmiths Grove on the 1954 USGS mapSmiths Grove on the 1966 USGS mapSmiths Grove on the 1994 USGS map1922Mammoth Cave 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 Smiths Grove.

People over time

Smiths Grove, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 815

Between 388 and 815 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Smiths Grove’s history

What year was Smiths Grove founded?

The Smiths Grove post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Smiths Grove?

8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the J. L. Wright House (listed 1979, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Smiths Grove District, the Smiths Grove Historic District and the Cave Spring Farm, with 153 contributing buildings. 159 historic buildings in all.

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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.