Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #123 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Greenbrier was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Its Register listings are the Granville Babb Sprouse House and the Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery. Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1910.
The Greenbrier post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hygeia Springs (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenbrier is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #123 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Greenbrier’s 4.3 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Greenbrier’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Greenbrier yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Greenbrier is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,898 at the 2020 United States census.
Its first post office opened in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,433 to 6,898 (+7%).
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.
BuiltGranville Babb Sprouse House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2016Greenbrier-water-tower-tn1
2016Greenbrier-RR-tracks-tn1
2016Greenbrier-Liberty-Square-tn1
2016Greenbrier-College-Street-tn1
2016Greenbrier-City-Hall-tn1
2016Granville-Babb-Sprouse-house-tn1
2015Water Lily on Greenbrier Lake
2014Granville Babb Sprouse House
2007William-whaley-grave1
2007Parton-cemetery-greenbrier2Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenbrier. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greenbrier.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 522 people in 1910 to 6,898 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenbrier’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Greenbrier’s post office has been open since 1867. Another post office, Hygeia Springs, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Greenbrier post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Greenbrier is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #123 of 177 in Tennessee. 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.
Two places: the Granville Babb Sprouse House (listed 1998) and the Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery (2008).
5% of Greenbrier’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1997.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
