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History · Ducktown

Ducktown dates to 1840, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 134 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1890.

1840founded
4on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ducktown’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ducktown began

When was Ducktown founded?

1840

Ducktown dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 221 in 18902020 census: 461186 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1858.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ducktown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Ducktown Historic District takes in 67 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 741 in 1960; 461 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1939.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Ducktown.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 135 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
135
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Burra Burra Mine Historic District
Burra Burra Mine Historic DistrictBuzzard's Roost Historic DistrictDucktown Historic DistrictCentral Headframe
DistrictsStructures
Burra Burra Mine Historic DistrictDistrict
All 4 listings
Buzzard's Roost Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992Ducktown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992Central HeadframeStructure · listed 1992

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

People over time

Ducktown, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 741

Peaked at 741 in 1960; 461 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

By decade

Ducktown, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Polk County - Ducktown - ED 70-10, ED 70-1118801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - P…
1890s–1920snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1930s11 items
Martin's place, 9 miles from Hiwassee Dam1937Martin's place, 9 miles from Hiwassee DamClayton home1938Clayton homeKeller, Charles; home1938Keller, Charles; homeHighway signs and billboards. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Highway signs and billboards. Ducktown, TennesseeHighway signs and billboards. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Highway signs and billboards. Ducktown, TennesseeHighway signs and billboards. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Highway signs and billboards. Ducktown, TennesseePicket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Duck…Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Duck…Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Duck…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Picket's sign ou…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Picket's sign outside copper mine during strike. Ducktown, Tennessee1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Picket's sign ou…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Ducktown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ducktown.

Read it all →

Ducktown is located in a geological region known as the Copper Basin, and was the center of a major copper-mining district from 1847 until 1987. The district also produced iron, sulfur and zinc as byproducts. Ducktown was the birthplace of Rockabilly Hall of Famer, Stan Beaver.

Literary historian Ben Harris McClary suggests that a Ducktown-area farmer named William "Sut" Miller (d. 1858) was the inspiration for the George Washington Harris character, Sut Lovingood. Ducktown and several Ducktown-area features, such as Big Frog Mountain and the Ocoee River ("Oconee"), are mentioned in the Sut Lovingood tales.

ChaptersPre-mining periodEarly mining yearsLater years

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ducktown, 1840 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840
    FoundingDucktown is established
  3. 1858Post officeThe Ducktown post office opens
  4. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Polk County - Ducktown - ED 70-10, ED…
  5. 20th century
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1937In the archiveMartin's place, 9 miles from Hiwassee Dam
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 741
On the map

Ducktown on the map, 1936 to 2003

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

Ducktown on the 1936 USGS mapDucktown on the 1943 USGS mapDucktown on the 1957 USGS mapDucktown on the 1974 USGS mapDucktown on the 1990 USGS mapDucktown on the 2003 USGS map1936Postelle 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 Ducktown.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Polk County - Ducktown - ED 70-10, ED 70-11
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Polk County - Ducktown - ED 70-10, ED 70-11, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ducktown’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Ducktown’s post office has been open since 1858.

Gone or out of use
Boyd MinemineBurra-Burra MinemineCentral MinemineHiwassee MinemineMcPherson Minemine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Ducktown’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ducktown’s history

What year was Ducktown founded?

In 1840, according to Wikidata. Ducktown’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1890 counted 221 people here.

What is on the National Register in Ducktown?

4 listings: 3 historic districts, the Burra Burra Mine Historic District, the Buzzard's Roost Historic District and the Ducktown Historic District, with 134 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 135 historic buildings in all.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.