Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the John Siddle Williams House. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1880.
Hermitage dates its founding to 1846 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
Hermitage was named after The Hermitage, the estate of the late president Andrew Jackson in Tennessee.
In 1847, it was designated seat of Hickory County, also named for Andrew Jackson, whose nickname was "Old Hickory".
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hermitage’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hermitage.
Hermitage was founded in 1846. It was named after The Hermitage, the estate of the late president Andrew Jackson in Tennessee. In 1847, it was designated seat of Hickory County, also named for Andrew Jackson, whose nickname was "Old Hickory".
John Siddle Williams House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hermitage. 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 Hermitage.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hermitage’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 167 people in 1880 to 621 in 2020, 3 times over.
9 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hermitage’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hermitage itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1846, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hermitage’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1880 counted 167 people here.
One place: the John Siddle Williams House (listed 1980).
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 (2), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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