Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Jacksboro was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the A.E. Perkins House. Its Register listing is the A.E. Perkins House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1870.
Jacksboro dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jacksboro is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its age holds 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 Jacksboro’s 7.5 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Jacksboro’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive[A panel of eight sketch maps.] Mountain Passes Practicable for Wagons from Cumberland Ga…
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Campbell County - Jacksboro - ED 7-8,…
Born hereJohn Jennings Jr. is born here
Born hereBonnie Hollingsworth is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Jacksboro.
Jacksboro was founded in 1806 as a permanent county seat for the newly created Campbell County. The initial property for the town square was deeded by Hugh Montgomery, one of the earliest settlers in the area. The town was originally known as Walnut Grove, but was renamed "Jacksonboro" in honor of Andrew Jackson in 1819. The name was later shortened to "Jacksboro."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2016Jacksboro-Kentucky-Street-tn1
2016Jacksboro-Cumberland-Mtn-tn1
2016Jacksboro-Cumberland-Mtn-house-tn1
2016Campbell-County-Courthouse-lawn-tn1
2010Perkins-house-jacksboro-tn1
2010Inside of First Barn at the Seven Islands Wildlife Re…
2010First Barn at the Seven Islands Wildlife Refugee - pa…
2010Cumberland-trail-jacksboro-tn2
2010Cumberland-trail-eagle-bluff-tn1
2007Jacksboro-devils-racetrack-tn1Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jacksboro. 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 Jacksboro.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![[A panel of eight sketch maps.] Mountain Passes Practicable for Wagons from Cumberland Gap to Winters' Gap](https://images.townratings.com/story/16279/d40a27d27e4eb99c0393-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jacksboro’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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 178 people in 1870 to 2,306 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jacksboro’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Jacksboro’s post office has been open since 1829. Another post office, Jacksonboro, 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.
In 1806, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Jacksboro’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1870 counted 178 people here.
Jacksboro is more historic than 58% 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.
One place: the A.E. Perkins House (listed 1997).
5% of Jacksboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
