Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Jamestown was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.
Jamestown dates its founding to 1823 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jamestown is more historic than 59% 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 Jamestown’s 17.9 sits above most of its state (71% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 Jamestown’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltOld Fentress County Jail is built
BuiltYork, Alvin C., Agricultural Institute Historic District is built
Born hereRoger K. Crouch is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBig South Fork Archaeological sitesFrom Wikipedia’s history of Jamestown.
Jamestown was established in 1823 as a county seat for Fentress County. It was incorporated as a city in 1837. Both Fentress County and Jamestown are named for prominent local politician James Fentress (1763–1843), who made the appeal for the new county to be carved out of Overton and Morgan counties.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Jamestown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
by John M. Clemons, one of the commissioners. He was the father of Mark Twain. The following is a copy of plan presented to the county court : The Commissioners of the Town of Jamestown prepare the following as descriptions of the public buildings to be let to the lowest bidder on Tuesday the 20th day of March 1827 to wit, for a jail, a house of loggs hewed a foot square, twelve feet in the clear, two stories high, and this surrounded by an-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in a bank, cashier in Burnside Bank from 1900 to 1906; then organized the Weiser, Idaho, National Bank, and was cashier of this bank until 1909, when he resigned and came to Jamestown and bought an interest in the Bank of Jamestown, and has been cashier of this bank since that time. Married Dora D. Harrison, a sister of Edgar Harrison, q. v., 1901. Is a member of Christian Church and an active Sunday School worker. Member of Knights of Pythias.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jamestown. 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 Jamestown.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jamestown’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.
Between 84 and 2,364 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jamestown’s Wikipedia page.
In 1823, according to Wikidata. Jamestown’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1880 counted 86 people here.
Jamestown is more historic than 59% 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.
Two places: the Old Fentress County Jail (listed 1984) and the York, Alvin C., Agricultural Institute Historic District (1991).
3% of Jamestown’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 1982.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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