Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #64 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Clarksville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. 37 places in town are on the National Register, among them six historic districts with 132 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1840.
Clarksville dates its founding to 1785 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarksville is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #64 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Clarksville ranks #207 on History.
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 Clarksville’s 9.9 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 175 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Clarksville’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Clarksville’s post office has been open since 1800. Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Clarksville.
The area around Clarksville was first surveyed by Thomas Hutchins in 1768. He identified Red Paint Hill, a rock bluff at the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers, as a navigational landmark.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltSevier Station is built
In the archiveBradley-map-mero-1796BuiltEmerald Hill is builtBuiltPoston Block is built
In the archive1870 Birds eye view of the city of Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee map
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee (TN) - Montgomery County - Clarksville …
Born hereErnest William Goodpasture is born hereBuiltClarksville Federal Building is built
In the archiveRobert T. Burt
Born hereDorothy Jordan is born here
In the archiveBurt High School
Born herePhil Roe is born here5 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarksville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clarksville.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1888Sheet 3 of 8Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Drag across each photo to compare.
1923TodayGrew from 1,754 people in 1840 to 166,722 in 2020, more than tenfold.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarksville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1785, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clarksville’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1840 counted 1,754 people here.
Clarksville is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #64 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.
37 listings: 29 buildings, among them the Sevier Station (listed 1971, the first), 6 historic districts with 132 contributing buildings, and 2 sites. 175 historic buildings in all.
2% of Clarksville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1997.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (8), the National Register of Historic Places (37), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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