History · Mount Juliet

Mount Juliet dates to 1835, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #97 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Mount Juliet was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1980.

1835founded

4on the National Register

0.3%homes built before 1940

4famous people

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Quick answers

How Mount Juliet began

When was Mount Juliet founded?

1835

Mount Juliet dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1980.

First census: 2,879 in 19802020 census: 39,289191 years

How historic is Mount Juliet?

C⁺

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Mount Juliet’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Juliet is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #97 of 177 in Tennessee. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Juliet’s overall grade.

Founding era1835, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.3) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%D National Register4 listings, 6 historic buildings, 1.4 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%

NewerOlder

Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 45%

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 Mount Juliet’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1835.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Mount Juliet’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mount Juliet, and 16 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mount Juliet are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Mount Juliet.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Mount Juliet’s post office has been open since 1872. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Green Hill

1838–1904

Mount Juliet

1872–today

Beckwith

1875–1909

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BeckwithBelinda CityCaravelleClearviewCreekmontDenny HillsGreen HillHillviewHunters StoreJackson HollowMonticelloMoreland FarmsOakmontPleasant GroveSettlers KnobTate

Gone or out of use

Hamilton Hill Schoolschool

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Juliet

GainesMount JulietRutlandWright

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

Help out

Start Mount Juliet’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Juliet’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

Timeline

Mount Juliet, 1835 to 1986

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

19th century
1835
FoundingMount Juliet is established
1838Post officeThe Green Hill post office opens
1853BuiltWarner Price Mumford Smith House is built
1872Post officeThe Mount Juliet post office opens
1875Post officeThe Beckwith post office opens
20th century
1904Post officeThe Green Hill post office closes
1905BuiltChandler Stone Wall is built
1909Post officeThe Beckwith post office closes
1914Born hereJohnnie Wright is born here
1921Born hereDon Ray is born here
1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1979Born hereNathan Followill is born here
1986Born hereMichael Jasper is born here

The story

How Mount Juliet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Juliet.

Read it all →

Mt. Juliet was formed in 1835 and incorporated as a city in 1972. The most widely accepted theory regarding the naming of the town is that it is named for the Mount Juliet Estate, a manor house in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is the only U.S. city with this name.

In the early morning hours of March 3, 2020, Mt. Juliet was struck by an EF3 tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes, along with West Wilson Middle School and Stoner Creek Elementary. Five people were killed by the tornado, three of whom were in Mt. Juliet.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Mount Juliet on the map, 1932 to 1997

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

1932Hermitage sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mount Juliet.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Mount Juliet

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1993

Warner Price Mumford Smith House

BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Warner Price Mumford Smith HouseBuilt 1853

Chandler Stone WallBuilt 1905

All 4 listings

Tanglewood Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1998 Cedar Heights FarmhouseBuilding · listed 2024

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

People over time

Mount Juliet, census by census

Grew from 2,879 people in 1980 to 39,289 in 2020, more than tenfold.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Mount Juliet

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

See all →

Johnnie WrightAmerican singer · b. 1914

Don RayAmerican basketball player · b. 1921

Nathan FollowillAmerican drummer · b. 1979

Michael JasperAmerican football player · b. 1986

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Green Hill1 historic placeC⁺Lebanon13 historic placesB⁻Nashville194 historic placesB⁺

Questions about Mount Juliet’s history

What year was Mount Juliet founded?

In 1835, according to Wikidata. Mount Juliet’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1980 counted 2,879 people here.

How does Mount Juliet rank for history?

Mount Juliet is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #97 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 Mount Juliet?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Warner Price Mumford Smith House (listed 1993, the first), 1 historic district, the Tanglewood Historic District, with 4 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 6 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Mount Juliet?

0.3% of Mount Juliet’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 2006.

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.

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