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B+History
History · Cowan

Cowan dates to 1808, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Cowan Depot. Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1880.

1808founded
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cowan began

When was Cowan founded?

1808

Cowan dates its founding to 1808 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 222 in 18802020 census: 1,759218 years

How historic is Cowan?

B+

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cowan’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cowan is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cowan’s overall grade.
Founding era1808, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194014.9% of homes (±5.3) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 5.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
NewerOlder

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 Cowan’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1808.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points).

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 →

What stands out about Cowan’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 Cowan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1917, drew every building in Cowan.Deep rootsEstablished in 1808: 218 years of Cowan.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cowan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cowan’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
Every building

Cowan, building by building, 1895–1917

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.

Cowan fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Cowan, 1808 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1808
    FoundingCowan is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Cowan post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904BuiltCowan Depot is built
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1950Born hereRay Bonner is born here
  8. 1997Born hereJauan Jennings is born here
The story

How Cowan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cowan.

Read it all →

The earliest settlers arrived in the Cowan area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The home of one such settler, William Russell, served as the Franklin County Courthouse until the establishment of Winchester in 1810.

The town of Cowan dates from the mid-19th century and developed mostly as a railroad town. It was the site where several branch lines met the main Nashville to Chattanooga trunk of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway which ran through the important Cowan Tunnel. As the last stop before the uphill climb onto the nearby Cumberland Plateau, pusher engines to assist trains in making the steep ascent were based there, and are still in use today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Cowan, decade by decade

Today15 recent
Cowan, Tennessee 062026Cowan, Tennessee 06Cowan, Tennessee 052026Cowan, Tennessee 05Cowan, Tennessee 042026Cowan, Tennessee 04Cowan, Tennessee 032026Cowan, Tennessee 03Cowan, Tennessee 022026Cowan, Tennessee 02Cowan, Tennessee 012026Cowan, Tennessee 01L&N 4114 GP38-2 at Cowan TN in February 19802017L&N 4114 GP38-2 at Cowan TN in February 1980L&N 4114 GP38-2 at Cowan TN in February 19802017L&N 4114 GP38-2 at Cowan TN in February 1980Cowan-water-tower-tn12016Cowan-water-tower-tn1Cowan-from-front-tn12016Cowan-from-front-tn1Cowan-clock-Texaco-tn12016Cowan-clock-Texaco-tn1Cowan-US-41A-tn12016Cowan-US-41A-tn1Cowan-Texaco-station-tn12016Cowan-Texaco-station-tn1Cowan-City-Hall-tn12016Cowan-City-Hall-tn1Cherry-Street-Cowan-tn12016Cherry-Street-Cowan-tn1
On the map

Cowan on the map, 1936 to 1971

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

Cowan on the 1936 USGS mapCowan on the 1947 USGS mapCowan on the 1971 USGS map1936Winchester 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 Cowan.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Cowan

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Cowan Depot
Cowan Depot, built 1904
Buildings
Cowan DepotBuilt 1904

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Cowan, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,979

Between 222 and 1,979 people in every census since 1880.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cowan’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cowan

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jauan JenningsAmerican football wide receiver · b. 1997
R
Ray BonnerAmerican football player and coach · b. 1950
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Winchester8 historic placesA−

Questions about Cowan’s history

What year was Cowan founded?

In 1808, according to Wikidata. Cowan’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 222 people here.

How does Cowan rank for history?

Cowan is more historic than 70% 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 Cowan?

One place: the Cowan Depot (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Cowan?

15% of Cowan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1969.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (15), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.