Most of Adamsville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Adamsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Adamsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Adamsville is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Adamsville’s overall grade.
Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Adamsville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Tennessee 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 D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1870.
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 Adamsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area in and around Adamsville was first surveyed by Davy Crockett. Just after 1818, George C. Adams and his family were the first settlers of European ancestry to locate to the area. A trading post would be opened, just north of where the Adamsville Cemetery is today. The trading post served the local Native communities and Anglo settlers. In 1838 the Bell's detachment of the Trail of Tears traveled through Adamsville. Settlers from North Carolina and Maury County, Tennessee migrated to the area and the settlement developed an agricultural economy. When the Battle of Shiloh was fought in 1862, Union Army soldiers were camped in Adamsville. Prior to that battle, the Skirmish at Adamsville resulted in a Confederate victory.
Adamsville’s post office has been open since 1833.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Adamsville
AdamsvilleChurchwellMcWhirter
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Adamsville’s history
What year was Adamsville founded?
The Adamsville post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1870.
How does Adamsville rank for history?
Adamsville is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Adamsville?
4% of Adamsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (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.
2010
