Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 68 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1850.
The Clarksville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clarksville’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 1,493 in 1880; 372 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarksville’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clarksville.
Clarksville was platted in 1819. The city was named for William Clark, governor of the territory at that time.
The Clarksville Historic District, Clifford-Wyrick House, Lock and Dam No. 24 Historic District, Northern Methodist Episcopal Church of Clarksville, and Turner-Pharr House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
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2008Army mil-2008-07-17-085659Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarksville. 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 Clarksville.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Clarksville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Clarksville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Clifford-Wyrick House (listed 1984, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Clarksville Historic District and the Lock and Dam No. 24 Historic District, with 68 contributing buildings. 71 historic buildings in all.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.
