Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #175 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Collegedale was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1970.
Collegedale dates its founding to 1916 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1970.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Collegedale is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #175 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Collegedale’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.
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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Collegedale’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Collegedale.
Collegedale was founded as the site of Southern Adventist University (then Southern Junior College) in 1916. It was incorporated under a city manager government in 1968. J.M. Ackerman was the first city manager, and Fred Fuller served as the city's first mayor.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveI-75 Summit BypassOne decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Collegedale. 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 Collegedale.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Collegedale’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 3,031 people in 1970 to 11,109 in 2020, 3 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Collegedale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Collegedale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Collegedale’s post office has been open since 1919.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1916, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Collegedale’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1970 counted 3,031 people here.
Collegedale is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #175 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.
0.6% of Collegedale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (5), 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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