Algood’s post office opened in 1892, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #138 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Algood Methodist Church and the White Plains. Most of Algood was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Algood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Algood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Algood is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #138 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Algood’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 Algood’s 5.0 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Algood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
While Algood was not established until the late 19th century, in the early 19th century a small community developed just south of modern Algood at White Plains, an antebellum plantation and important stopover along the Walton Road (which connected Nashville and Knoxville). In the 1880s, the Nashville & Knoxville Railroad erected a depot at what is now Algood. The land on which the depot was built was purchased from a circuit rider and early settler named Joel Algood, and thus the train stop was named after him. For a period of time the area would be called Algood's Old Fields. In 1899, the Algood Methodist Church (now Algood United Methodist Church) was built on land donated by the children of this early settler. Algood was initially incorporated in 1901, but repealed its own charter two years later. The town reincorporated in 1911.
The Algood post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Algood rank for history?
Algood is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #138 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 Algood?
Two places: the Algood Methodist Church (listed 1979) and the White Plains (2009).
How old are the homes in Algood?
2% of Algood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (3), 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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