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History · Finley

Finley’s post office opened in 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Finley was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Pleasant Hill Cemetery. Below: maps from 1939 on.

1881first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Finley began

When was Finley founded?

1881

The Finley post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 774145 years
Founding year: the first Finley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Finley’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 Finley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Finley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Finley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Finley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Finley.

Read it all →

Originally known as Pleasant Hill, the community was settled beginning in 1840 on the high ground just north of the modern-day village. The area surrounding Finley was hunted by Davy Crockett, who named the creek that runs through Finley after himself.

The community is named after local businessman and farmer James Allen Finley, who moved to the area in 1858 and eventually had a post office established in his home.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Finley on the map, 1939 to 1983

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

Finley on the 1939 USGS mapFinley on the 1952 USGS mapFinley on the 1961 USGS mapFinley on the 1983 USGS map1939Dyersburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Finley.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Finley

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
2003
Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Sites
All 1 listings
Pleasant Hill CemeterySite · listed 2003

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

Questions about Finley’s history

What year was Finley founded?

The Finley post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Finley?

One place: the Pleasant Hill Cemetery (listed 2003).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.