Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Big Rock

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
–Not graded
History · Big Rock

Big Rock’s post office opened in 1878

Most of Big Rock was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1951 on.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Big Rock began

When was Big Rock founded?

1878

The Big Rock post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 291148 years
Founding year: the first Big Rock post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Big Rock’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Big Rock are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Big Rock’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Big Rock, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Big Rock yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Big Rock is an unincorporated community in Stewart County, Tennessee, United States. Its ZIP code is 37023.

Its first post office opened in 1878.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Big Rock, 1878 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Big Rock post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Born hereErv Brame is born here
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Big Rock on the map, 1951 to 1980

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

Big Rock on the 1951 USGS mapBig Rock on the 1980 USGS map1951Bumpus Mills 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 Big Rock.

Questions about Big Rock’s history

What year was Big Rock founded?

The Big Rock post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.