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CHistory
History · McEwen

McEwen’s post office opened in 1882, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How McEwen began

When was McEwen founded?

1882

The McEwen post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 213 in 18902020 census: 1,643144 years

How historic is McEwen?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives McEwen’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McEwen is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McEwen’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.6% of homes (±5.4) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical TN town 6.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder

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 McEwen’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 McEwen’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 McEwen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McEwen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McEwen’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
The story so far

McEwen, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of McEwen yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

McEwen is a city in Humphreys County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, McEwen had a population of 1,643. In December 2022, a dehydrated human heart was found inside one of the salt piles of the Tennessee Department of Transportation; the case remains unresolved.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,750 to 1,643 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

McEwen, 1882 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Mc Ewen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1919Born hereRuss Craft is born here
  5. 1933Born hereRalph Emery is born here
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

McEwen, decade by decade

Today1 recent
TN231 North Sign2020TN231 North Sign
On the map

McEwen on the map, 1936 to 1973

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

McEwen on the 1936 USGS mapMcEwen on the 1952 USGS mapMcEwen on the 1973 USGS map1936Gorman 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 McEwen.

People over time

McEwen, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,750

Between 213 and 1,750 people in every census since 1890.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in McEwen

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

See all →
R
Ralph EmeryAmerican musician · b. 1933
Russ CraftAmerican football player · b. 1919

Questions about McEwen’s history

What year was McEwen founded?

The McEwen post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does McEwen rank for history?

McEwen is more historic than 29% 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.

How old are the homes in McEwen?

13% of McEwen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (1), 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.