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B−History
History · Martin

Martin’s post office opened in 1873, and 7 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #79 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Martin was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1900.

1873first post office
7on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Martin began

When was Martin founded?

1873

The Martin post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,730 in 19002020 census: 10,825153 years

How historic is Martin?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Martin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Martin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Martin is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #79 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Martin’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.8% of homes (±2.8) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register7 listings, 61 historic buildings, 55.9 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 56%

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 Martin’s 55.9 sits above most of its state (85% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 61 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Martin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Martin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1913, drew every building in Martin.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Martin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Martin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Martin, building by building, 1892–1913

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.

Martin fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

7 listings protect 61 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
61
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Ivandale
Ivandale, built 1894Marshalldale, built 1850US Post OfficeVarsity TheatreW. T. Lawler House, built 1880University Street Historic DistrictMartin Downtown Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
IvandaleBuilt 1894
MarshalldaleBuilt 1850
US Post OfficeBuilding
Varsity TheatreBuilding
All 7 listings
W. T. Lawler HouseBuilding · listed 1982University Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996Martin Downtown Commercial Historic DistrictBuilding · listed 2023

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Martin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Martin.

Read it all →

Martin is named for Captain William Martin. William Martin was born in Halifax County, Virginia in 1806, and moved to Weakley County, Tennessee with his wife Sarah in 1832. Captain Martin prospered through tobacco farming and began working to establish a railroad connection in what would later become Martin in 1852. It was not until after his death in 1859 that his sons, led primarily by George W. Martin, persuaded the Mississippi Central Railroad to locate a connection with the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad in what would become Martin, Tennessee in 1872.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Martin, 1850 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850BuiltMarshalldale is built
  3. 1873Post officeThe Martin post office opens
  4. 1880BuiltW. T. Lawler House is built
  5. 1894BuiltIvandale is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1912Born herePaul Fitts is born here
  8. 1928Born hereHayden White is born here
  9. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1976Born hereChad Clifton is born here
  11. 1984Born hereJustin Harrell is born here
By decade

Martin, decade by decade

Today10 recent
W.T. Lawler House-Martin TN2022W.T. Lawler House-Martin TNVarsity Theatre-Martin TN2022Varsity Theatre-Martin TNMarshalldale-Martin TN2022Marshalldale-Martin TNMartin-Lindell-Street-tn2019Martin-Lindell-Street-tnKathleen and Tom Elam Center2019Kathleen and Tom Elam CenterWestview High School2015Westview High SchoolUTM 1967-present2014UTM 1967-presentUTM 1951-19672014UTM 1951-1967UTM 1927-19512014UTM 1927-1951UTM 1900-19272014UTM 1900-1927
On the map

Martin on the map, 1950 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Martin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Martin on the 1950 USGS mapMartin on the 1972 USGS mapMartin on the 1981 USGS map1950Martin 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 Martin.

People over time

Martin, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 11,473

Between 1,730 and 11,473 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Martin’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Martin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Hayden WhiteAmerican historian · b. 1928
Chad CliftonAmerican football player · b. 1976
P
Paul FittsAmerican psychologist · b. 1912
Justin HarrellPlayer of American football · b. 1984
A
Ashley McElhineyAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1981
Robert M. WalkerAmerican Under Secretary of the Army · b. 1948
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Martin’s post office has been open since 1873.

Gone or out of use
McFerrin CollegeschoolWeakley County Training Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Martin
DibrellEast SideLynchParhamWilliamsYellow Fever

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Martin’s history

What year was Martin founded?

The Martin post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Martin rank for history?

Martin is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #79 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 Martin?

7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Ivandale (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the University Street Historic District, with 12 contributing buildings. 61 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Martin?

5% of Martin’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 1981.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (10), Wikidata (4), 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.