Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Altamont

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Altamont

Altamont’s post office opened in 1845, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Altamont was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listings are the H. B. Northcutt House, the Firescald Creek Stone Arch Bridge and the L. V. Woodlee House. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.

1845first post office
3on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Altamont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Altamont began

When was Altamont founded?

1845

The Altamont post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 110 in 18802020 census: 1,117181 years

How historic is Altamont?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Altamont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Altamont’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Altamont is more historic than 58% 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 Altamont’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.9% of homes (±3.1) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register3 listings, 22.7 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder

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 Altamont’s 22.7 sits above most of its state (76% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). 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 Altamont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.Deep rootsA post office since 1845: 181 years of Altamont.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Altamont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altamont’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLush, Hubert; home: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Altamont, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020110 in 1880Low: 67

Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altamont’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Altamont, 1845 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Post officeThe Altamont post office opens
  3. 1885BuiltH. B. Northcutt House is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906BuiltFirescald Creek Stone Arch Bridge is built
  6. 1940In the archiveLush, Hubert; home
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,136
The story

How Altamont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Altamont.

Read it all →

Altamont was established in 1848 as a county seat for Grundy County, which had been created in 1844. General Adrian Northcutt, a prominent local farmer and military officer, was the prime advocate for the site's selection. The town's name comes from combining alto (meaning "altitude") and mont (meaning "mountain"). Although the Civil War somewhat stunted the town's growth, by 1870 Altamont's population had grown to 217.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Altamont, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s3 items
Lush, Hubert; home1940Lush, Hubert; homeSchool1940SchoolSchool1940School
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
TN56-TN108-intersection-tn12015TN56-TN108-intersection-tn1Altamont-park-tn12015Altamont-park-tn1Altamont-businesses-tn12015Altamont-businesses-tn1Altamont-Confederate-monument-tn12015Altamont-Confederate-monument-tn1H.B. Northcutt House2014H.B. Northcutt HouseUS Navy 090609-N-9818V-270 Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Rick West speaks with boy scouts at the Skymo…2009US Navy 090609-N-9818V-270 Master Chief Petty Officer…US Navy 090609-N-9818V-258 Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Rick West presents a MCPON challenge coin to …2009US Navy 090609-N-9818V-258 Master Chief Petty Officer…US Navy 090609-N-9818V-142 A staff member from Skymont Boy Scout Camp gives Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCP…2009US Navy 090609-N-9818V-142 A staff member from Skymon…Altamont-old-log-courthouse-tn12008Altamont-old-log-courthouse-tn1Altamont-city-hall-tn12008Altamont-city-hall-tn1Altamont-108-56-tn12008Altamont-108-56-tn1
On the map

Altamont on the map, 1956 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altamont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Altamont on the 1956 USGS mapAltamont on the 1979 USGS mapAltamont on the 1987 USGS mapAltamont on the 1997 USGS map1956Altamont sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Altamont.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lush, Hubert; home
Retake this viewLush, Hubert; home, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Altamont’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Altamont

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
H. B. Northcutt House
H. B. Northcutt House, built 1885Firescald Creek Stone Arch Bridge, built 1906L. V. Woodlee House
BuildingsStructures
H. B. Northcutt HouseBuilt 1885
Firescald Creek Stone Arch BridgeBuilt 1906
L. V. Woodlee HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Altamont

Nobody well known was born in Altamont itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dinah ShoreAmerican singer and actress · b. 1916
J
John TempletonAmerican-born British stock investor, businessm… · b. 1912
Peter TurneyAmerican politician · b. 1827
Tom StewartAmerican politician · b. 1892
S
Samuel C. LindRadiation chemist · b. 1879
John Houston SavageAmerican politician · b. 1815
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Altamont’s post office has been open since 1845.

Gone or out of use
Altamont Academyschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Altamont
AltamontFults

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Beersheba Springs1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Altamont’s history

What year was Altamont founded?

The Altamont post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Altamont rank for history?

Altamont is more historic than 58% 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 Altamont?

Three places: the H. B. Northcutt House (listed 1982), the Firescald Creek Stone Arch Bridge (1987) and the L. V. Woodlee House (1987).

How old are the homes in Altamont?

2% of Altamont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1990.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (14), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.