Harriman dates to 1889, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #42 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 143 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Harriman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harriman is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #42 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harriman’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 Harriman’s 236 sits above most of its state (97% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 144 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). Two sources give 1889.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Harriman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Harriman was founded as a Temperance Town in 1889 by temperance movement activists led by New York-born minister and plant manager Frederick Gates. Seeking a land venture that could attract industrial and economic development while avoiding the vice-driven pitfalls of late 19th century company towns, Gates and fellow prohibitionists chartered the East Tennessee Land Company in May 1889. In subsequent months, the company acquired several hundred thousand acres of land around what is now Harriman, including the plantation of Union Army colonel and state senator, Robert K. Byrd. The company's early investors included 1888 Prohibition Party presidential candidate General Clinton B. Fisk, who served as the company's first president, Quaker Oats co-founder Ferdinand Schumacher, and publishers Isaac K. Funk and A. W. Wagnalls.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harriman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1935Harriman 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 Harriman.
Every building
Harriman, building by building, 1891–1913
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1889, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Harriman’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1890 counted 716 people here.
How does Harriman rank for history?
Harriman is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #42 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.
What is on the National Register in Harriman?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Harriman City Hall (listed 1971, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Cornstalk Heights Historic District, the Roane Street Commercial Historic District and the Valley View Farm, with 143 contributing buildings. 144 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Harriman?
12% of Harriman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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