Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives La Follette’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, La Follette is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #112 of 177 in Tennessee. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of La Follette’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 La Follette’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). Two sources give 1897.
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 →
What stands out about La Follette’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Big Creek Gap, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Big Creek Gap
1875–1894
La Follett
1894–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
De LapHunterLaFollette
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside La Follette
BurrisDe LapDugtownLaban SharpSharpTalley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
La Follette, building by building, 1902–1925
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.
1902Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Harvey and Grant LaFollette purchased 37,000 acres (150 km2) at Big Creek Gap, where the present community lies, around 1890. They founded the LaFollette Coal, Iron, and Railway Company to exploit mineral resources they had found. Although the business failed during the 1920s, the community continued to grow. The city of LaFollette was incorporated in 1897. On May 10, 1904, a major fire that started in the Cumberland Inn burned down most of the downtown area, with a reported 31 businesses destroyed.
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.
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.
In 1897, according to Wikidata. La Follette’s post office opened in 1875, and the census of 1900 counted 366 people here.
How does La Follette rank for history?
La Follette is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #112 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 La Follette?
One place: the LaFollette House (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in La Follette?
11% of La Follette’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (14), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2010
