Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Gibson was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1880.
The Gibson post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pickettsville (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gibson’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gibson yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Gibson, once known as Pickettville in the 1800s, is a town in Gibson County, Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, Gibson had a population of 366.
Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 396 to 366 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gibson.
1986Milan sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gibson.
Between 131 and 458 people in every census since 1880.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gibson’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Gibson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Gibson’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Pickettsville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Gibson post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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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