Its Register listing is the Kincaid-Howard House. Most of Fincastle was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982.
Founding year: the first Fincastle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Fincastle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fincastle is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fincastle’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 Fincastle’s 7.3 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Fincastle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fincastle yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fincastle is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 1,618 as of the 2010 census. Once known as Glade Springs, Fincastle was later named for Fincastle, Virginia, which was the original home of many of its early settlers.
Its first post office opened in 1836. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,618 in 2010, 1,611 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Fincastle had its own post office from 1836 to 1907.
Fincastle
1836–1907
18301930today
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fincastle
FincastleGlade SpringsIveyWilson
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Fincastle’s history
What year was Fincastle founded?
The Fincastle post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fincastle rank for history?
Fincastle is more historic than 47% 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 Fincastle?
One place: the Kincaid-Howard House (listed 1976).
How old are the homes in Fincastle?
1% of Fincastle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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