Mosheim’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #125 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Mosheim was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Blue Springs Lutheran Church and Cemetery. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Mosheim post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mosheim’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mosheim is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #125 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 Mosheim’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 Mosheim’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. 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 Mosheim’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mosheim (also pronounced "MOSS-eyem" without the "h" sound) originally called "Blue Springs" after a spring that flows through the town, was settled circa 1800. Many of its initial settlers were German Lutherans. In 1872, the Lutherans established a local college at Blue Springs known as Mosheim Institute, after the German theologian, Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693–1755). That same year, the name of the town was officially changed to "Mosheim", after the college.
The Mosheim post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mosheim rank for history?
Mosheim is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #125 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 Mosheim?
One place: the Blue Springs Lutheran Church and Cemetery (listed 2017).
How old are the homes in Mosheim?
6% of Mosheim’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 1982.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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