Most of Bluff City was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1880.
The Bluff City post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Middletown (1809) and Union Depot (1856), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 410 in 18802020 census: 1,822139 years
How historic is Bluff City?
C−
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bluff City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bluff City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bluff City is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bluff City’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 Bluff City’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 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 Bluff City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bluff City underwent several name changes before incorporating on July 1, 1887, under its present name. The town was originally known as Choate's Ford, and later took the name Middletown. After the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad was built, crossing the Holston River at the town site, the name Union was adopted. During the Civil War it was called Zollicoffer after Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer, but became Union again at the end of the war and until 1887.
The tobacco factories operated by Reynolds, at Bristol and Prather, at Bluff City, finally became the victims of the trust methods. There was a hat factory located near Thomas' bridge and operated by Edward Anderson. A good, servicable wool hat was made here and the old house where they were made still stands.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bluff City, 1809 to 2003
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Bluff City post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bluff City rank for history?
Bluff City is more historic than 25% 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.
How old are the homes in Bluff City?
9% of Bluff City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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