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B+History
History · Norris

Norris dates to 1933, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 344 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1950.

1933founded
3on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Norris’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Norris began

When was Norris founded?

1933

Norris dates its founding to 1933 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 1,134 in 19502020 census: 1,59993 years

How historic is Norris?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1934.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Norris’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Norris is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Norris’ overall grade.
Founding era1933, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194025.3% of homes (±8.0) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 345 historic buildings, 2,323 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
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 Norris’ 2,323 sits above most of its state (100% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 345 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). Two sources give 1933.

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 Norris’ past

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

A historic districtThe Norris District takes in 340 historic buildings.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 345 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
345
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Norris District
Norris DistrictArnwine CabinNorris Hydroelectric Project, built 1933
BuildingsDistricts
Norris DistrictDistrict
Arnwine CabinBuilding
Norris Hydroelectric ProjectBuilt 1933

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

By decade

Norris, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
"Foundation of the community center building at Norris townsite."1933"Foundation of the community center building at Norri…"Interior of the home of Harriet Hankins at the site of the planned community near Norris Dam. Harriet Hankins is 73 ye…1933"Interior of the home of Harriet Hankins at the site …"Noon meal at the cafeteria at Norris townsite."1933"Noon meal at the cafeteria at Norris townsite.""Teams plowing in one of the fields on the TVA demonstration farm near Norris townsite."1933"Teams plowing in one of the fields on the TVA demons…"Temporary kitchen serving cafeteria at Norris townsite."1933"Temporary kitchen serving cafeteria at Norris townsi…"View from the north of the poultry and gardening center of the TVA at Norris."1933"View from the north of the poultry and gardening cen…"View of engineers' building and girls' dormitory at Norris townsite. This picture was taken from the roof of one of th…1933"View of engineers' building and girls' dormitory at …"View of the engineers' building and women's dormitory under construction at Norris townsite. View is from the west."1933"View of the engineers' building and women's dormitor…Norris-school-tva11933Norris-school-tva1Norris-tennessee-community-center-tva11933Norris-tennessee-community-center-tva1Norris-tennessee-house-tva11933Norris-tennessee-house-tva1Norris-tennessee-house-tva21933Norris-tennessee-house-tva2
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
The story

How Norris came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Norris.

Read it all →

TVA chairman Arthur Morgan envisioned Norris as a model of cooperative, egalitarian living. The city design was developed by TVA staff, who loosely based their design on the English garden city movement of the 1890s. Winding roads followed the contour of the terrain. Houses did not always face the street. A central common green and a belt of rural land around the town were reserved for use by residents. The houses, which were some of the first all-electric homes, were built using local wood and stone, according to twelve basic house designs that each included a porch and fireplace. Different exterior materials were used for visual variety.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Norris, 1933 to 1936

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1933
    FoundingNorris is established
  3. 1933BuiltNorris Hydroelectric Project is built
  4. 1933In the archive"Foundation of the community center building at Norris townsite."
  5. 1934Post officeThe Norris post office opens
  6. 1935Born hereJ. Welles Wilder, Jr. is born here
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Norris on the map, 1936 to 1990

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

Norris on the 1936 USGS mapNorris on the 1941 USGS mapNorris on the 1952 USGS mapNorris on the 1973 USGS mapNorris on the 1990 USGS map1936Norris 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 Norris.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

"Foundation of the community center building at Norris townsite."
Retake this view"Foundation of the community center building at Norris townsite.", 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Norris’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Norris, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001960198020002020Peak: 1,599

Between 1,134 and 1,599 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Norris’s post office has been open since 1934.

Gone or out of use
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Number 4493localeCivilian Conservation Corps Camp Number 4495localeNorris Evaporation Stationbuilding
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Norris
LongmireMillerNorris Memorial GardensOld Red HillScruggsWallace

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

Help out

Finish Norris’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"Foundation of the community center bui…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Norris’ history

What year was Norris founded?

In 1933, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Norris’ post office opened in 1934, and the census of 1950 counted 1,134 people here.

How does Norris rank for history?

Norris is more historic than 71% 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 Norris?

Three places: the Norris District (listed 1975), the Arnwine Cabin (1976) and the Norris Hydroelectric Project (2016).

How old are the homes in Norris?

25% of Norris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.