Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #124 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Mascot was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Chesterfield. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 2000.
The Mascot post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Chesterfield (1856), Roseberry (1858) and Meek (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mascot is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #124 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 Mascot’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Mascot’s history is told.
Mascot had its own post office from 1888 to 1961. Three 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Mascot.
The Mascot community was first reported to be established around 1796, when settler John Erwin purchased 150 acres of land by the United States government, but the expansion of the community would not occur until the 19th and 20th centuries.
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 - Knox County - Mascot - ED 47-36, ED 4…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereKelsea Ballerini 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 Mascot. 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 Mascot.
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 Mascot’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 2,119 and 2,760 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mascot’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Mascot post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mascot is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #124 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.
One place: the Chesterfield (listed 1977).
7% of Mascot’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (4), 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.
2015
2015
2010
