Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Christopher Hollis · Public domainMore historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #38 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Lawrenceburg was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 36 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1870.
Lawrenceburg dates its founding to 1819 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lawrenceburg is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Lawrenceburg’s 34.6 sits above most of its state (80% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 41 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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.
Lawrenceburg’s post office has been open since 1821. Two other post offices 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).
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lawrenceburg.
According to a recent theory, the Lawrenceburg area is the likely site of "Chicasa"—the place where Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men wintered in 1540–41 (though earlier theories have suggested this campsite to have been in northern Mississippi). The Chickasaw Nation sold the area to the US in 1816.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Lawrence County - Lawrenceburg - ED 5…BuiltSacred Heart of Jesus Church is builtBuiltLawrence County Jail is builtBuiltGarrett House is built
Born hereEllis L. Perry is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltCrockett Theater is built
Born hereMichael Jeter is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lawrenceburg. 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 Lawrenceburg.
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 Lawrenceburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 351 people in 1870 to 11,633 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lawrenceburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1819, according to Wikidata. Lawrenceburg’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1870 counted 351 people here.
Lawrenceburg is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #38 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.
7 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Lawrence County Jail (listed 1976, the first), 2 historic districts, the Lawrenceburg No. 2 Hydroelectric Station and the Lawrenceburg Commercial Historic District, with 36 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 41 historic buildings in all.
5% of Lawrenceburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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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