Its Register listings are the Valley Farm, the Baird-Welch House and the Cornersville Methodist Episcopal Church South. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Cornersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cornersville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cornersville is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cornersville’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 Cornersville’s 21.7 sits above most of its state (75% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.4 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 Cornersville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before becoming incorporated the town's name was Marathon. When it was first incorporated as a municipality on January 7, 1830, Cornersville was named for its location near the corner where Giles, Maury, Bedford and Lincoln counties came together. It was part of Giles County at the time of incorporation, but county boundaries have changed, and since 1870 it has been in Marshall County.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Cornersville, census by census
Grew from 290 people in 1880 to 1,228 in 2020, 4 times over.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cornersville’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Cornersville’s post office has been open since 1831.
Hamlets and corners on the map
New Town
1cemetery inside Cornersville
Beechwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Cornersville’s history
What year was Cornersville founded?
The Cornersville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cornersville rank for history?
Cornersville is more historic than 88% 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.
What is on the National Register in Cornersville?
Three places: the Valley Farm (listed 1984), the Baird-Welch House (1985) and the Cornersville Methodist Episcopal Church South (1982).
How old are the homes in Cornersville?
25% of Cornersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1982.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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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