History · Southgate

Southgate’s post office opened in 1824, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #59 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1910.

1824first post office

0on the National Register

29%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Southgate’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Southgate began

When was Southgate founded?

1824

The Southgate post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, South Gate (1824), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 627 in 19102020 census: 3,648202 years

How historic is Southgate?

B⁺

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Southgate post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Southgate’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southgate is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #59 of 142 in Kentucky. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Southgate’s overall grade.

Founding era1824, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194028.9% of homes (±6.7) · typical KY town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%A⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical KY town 29.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%

NewerOlder

Kentucky towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 59%

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 Southgate’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Southgate’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18986 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1983. Watch Southgate change.Deep rootsA post office since 1824: 202 years of Southgate.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Southgate’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewEvergreen Cemetery, Soldiers' Lot, 25 S…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Southgate on the map, 1898 to 1983

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

1898East Cincinnati 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 Southgate.

Timeline

Southgate, 1824 to 1931

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

19th century
1824Post officeThe South Gate post office opens
1825Post officeThe South Gate post office closes
1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1931Born hereJim Bunning is born here

The story

How Southgate came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Southgate.

Read it all →

The city of Southgate is named for the family of Richard Southgate. Born in New York City, Richard Southgate went to Newport from Richmond, Virginia in 1795. In October 1797, he was licensed to practice law in the court of Kentucky and appointed Commonwealth Attorney for Campbell County in 1798. He was State Representative in 1803 and Senator from 1817 to 1821. Richard died in July 1857 at the age of 83. Richard's home still stands on Third Street in Newport. His son William was a congressman from Northern Kentucky.

On May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate was engulfed in fire, killing 165 inside.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Southgate, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Evergreen Cemetery, Soldiers' Lot, 25 South Alexandria Pike

Date?Evergreen Cemetery, Soldiers' Lot, 25 South Alexandri…

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewEvergreen Cemetery, Soldiers' Lot, 25 South Alexandria Pike

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Southgate’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Southgate, census by census

Between 627 and 3,803 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, South Gate, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use

Southgate Public Schoolschool

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Southgate

EvergreenEvergreen Cemetery Soldiers' Lot

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Newport19 historic placesA⁺Fort Thomas6 historic placesB⁺Wilder1 historic placeC⁻

Questions about Southgate’s history

What year was Southgate founded?

The Southgate post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Southgate rank for history?

Southgate is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #59 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.

How old are the homes in Southgate?

29% of Southgate’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1968.

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).

From the Library of Congress (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) 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.

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