Most of Mason was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listings are the Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q and the Trinity Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Mason post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mason’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mason is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mason’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 Mason’s 19.2 sits above most of its state (72% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). 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 Mason’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The first rail service in Tipton County was established in December 1855, when the Memphis and Ohio Railroad completed the route from Memphis to Nashville, running through what is now the town of Mason.
Trinity Church in Mason, built in 1870, was designed by English architect James B. Cook and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2022 the State Government of Tennessee fought to gain financial control over the town government. In May of that year the town and the state government had a deal so that the financial control remained with the town government.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Mason’s history
What year was Mason founded?
The Mason post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mason rank for history?
Mason is more historic than 39% 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.
What is on the National Register in Mason?
Two places: the Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q (listed 2018) and the Trinity Church (1984).
How old are the homes in Mason?
4% of Mason’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (7), Wikidata (1), 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 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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