Most of Alamo was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listings are the Bank of Alamo and the Central High School. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1847.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alamo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alamo is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alamo’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 Alamo’s 8.7 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1846.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Alamo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alamo was first founded as a trading post called Cageville by mercantile partners Isaac M. Johnson and Lycurgus Cage in 1846. The two were the first to do business in the town, engaging in general merchandising in 1847. Johnson became the town's first postmaster in 1848, and the town's first church, built by Methodists, was erected the following year. The name was changed to Alamo after the town became the county seat with the organization of Crockett County in late 1871—the act that formed Crockett County specified that its seat should bear that name, as the county had been formed to commemorate Davy Crockett's stand at the Alamo. The town was incorporated nearly fifty years later, in 1911.
Alamo’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Cageville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cageville
1847–1872
Alamo
1872–today
18401930today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Alamo’s history
What year was Alamo founded?
In 1846, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Alamo’s post office opened in 1847, and the census of 1880 counted 276 people here.
How does Alamo rank for history?
Alamo is more historic than 59% 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.
What is on the National Register in Alamo?
Two places: the Bank of Alamo (listed 1986) and the Central High School (2025).
How old are the homes in Alamo?
5% of Alamo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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