Beersheba Springs dates to 1839, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 27 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.
In 1833 Beersheba Porter Cain discovered a chalybeate spring. The spring and surrounding area, located above Collins River Valley, were incorporated in 1839. Upon its incorporation, Beersheba Springs was developed as a summer rural resort with a small hotel and log cabins. It was notable for its mineral waters, which were thought to have health-giving properties. The resort would be popular with stagecoach traffic that would travel between Chattanooga and McMinnville.
Eventually Louisiana planters also moved into the area, leaving behind the notoriously hot and humid summers of their home state. Beersheba Springs served as the summer home for Tennessee author Mary Noailles Murfree.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beersheba Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Altamont 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 Beersheba Springs.
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.
Retake this viewOld Beersheba Inn, Armfield Avenue
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Beersheba Springs’ page.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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