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DHistory
History · Bean Station

Bean Station’s post office opened in 1929, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #162 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Bean Station was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Tate Springs Springhouse. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1990.

1929first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bean Station’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bean Station began

When was Bean Station founded?

1929

The Bean Station post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1996. Another post office, Bean's Station (1807), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 2,356 in 19902020 census: 2,96797 years

How historic is Bean Station?

D

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bean Station post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1996.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bean Station’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bean Station is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #162 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bean Station’s overall grade.
Founding era1929, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.0) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 3.3 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 10%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 9%

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 Bean Station’s 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1996.

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 Bean Station’s past

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

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1925–1979.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bean Station, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s5 items
Tate Springs resort brochure - 19251925Tate Springs resort brochure - 1925Cornette's Motel, on U.S. 25E and Cherokee Lake, 2 mi. N. of Morristown, Tenn (83697)c. 1930Cornette's Motel, on U.S. 25E and Cherokee Lake, 2 mi…View of town1938View of townView of town1938View of townView of town1938View of town
1940s5 items
Bean Fort, view from Branch Bluff to the south1942Bean Fort, view from Branch Bluff to the southBeets, J.P.; store1942Beets, J.P.; storeOld Bean Station Inn, now a tourist home. Reportedly, Abraham Lincoln's mother worked here as a waitress1942Old Bean Station Inn, now a tourist home. Reportedly,…Street intersection1942Street intersectionStreet intersection1942Street intersection
1970s2 items
Bean Station bus collision NTSB accident layout1973Bean Station bus collision NTSB accident layoutU.S. Route 25E - Crosby, TN - 19791979U.S. Route 25E - Crosby, TN - 1979
1980s–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
The story

How Bean Station came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bean Station.

Read it all →

In 1775, pioneers Daniel Boone and William Bean observed the future site of Bean Station from the top of Clinch Mountain while on a hunting-and-surveying excursion. During the American Revolutionary War, Bean served as a captain for the Virginia militia; in 1776, he was awarded over 3,000 acres (4.7 sq mi; 1,200 ha) in the German Creek valley, where he had earlier surveyed and camped with Boone. At this site, Bean later constructed a four-room cabin, which he used as both his family home and as an inn for prospective settlers, fur traders, and longhunters. The inn and its surrounding area were variously called Bean's Cabin, Bean's Crossroads, and Bean's Station. This area is believed to be the first permanently-settled European-American community in present-day Tennessee.

ChaptersEarly yearsCivil War and late 19th centuryLate 19th and early 20th centuriesMid-to-late 20th and early 21st centuries

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bean Station, 1783 to 1973

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1783Born herePeter Ellis Bean is born here
  3. 19th century
  4. 1807Post officeThe Bean's Station post office opens
  5. 1834Born hereRobert E. Preston is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Bean's Station post office closes
  8. 1925In the archiveTate Springs resort brochure - 1925
  9. 1929Post officeThe Bean Station post office opens
  10. 1930In the archiveCornette's Motel, on U.S. 25E and Cherokee Lake, 2 mi. N. of Morristown, Tenn (83697)
  11. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1942In the archiveBean Fort, view from Branch Bluff to the south
  13. 1973In the archiveBean Station bus collision NTSB accident layout
On the map

Bean Station on the map, 1935 to 1976

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

Bean Station on the 1935 USGS mapBean Station on the 1960 USGS mapBean Station on the 1976 USGS map1935Bean Station 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 Bean Station.

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.

Tate Springs resort brochure - 1925
Retake this viewTate Springs resort brochure - 1925, 1925

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bean Station

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Tate Springs Springhouse
Tate Springs Springhouse
Structures
Tate Springs SpringhouseStructure

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

People over time

Bean Station, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00020002020Peak: 3,092

Between 2,356 and 3,092 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bean Station

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
P
Peter Ellis BeanMexican revolutionary · b. 1783
Robert E. PrestonDirector of the United States Mint · b. 1834
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Bean Station’s post office has been open since 1929. Another post office, Bean's Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bean's Station
1807–1901
Bean Station
1929–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrosbyWyatt Village
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bean Station
Bean StationLivingstonMeadow BranchMeeksMoores ChapelNew AdrielSamsel

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

Help out

Finish Bean Station’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTate Springs resort brochure - 1925: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MooresburgIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bean Station’s history

What year was Bean Station founded?

The Bean Station post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1996.

How does Bean Station rank for history?

Bean Station is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #162 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 Bean Station?

One place: the Tate Springs Springhouse (listed 1973).

How old are the homes in Bean Station?

0.0% of Bean Station’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1991.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (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.