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CHistory
History · Parsons

Parsons’ post office opened in 1893, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Parsons was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Rains, John P., Hotel. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1920.

1893first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Parsons’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Parsons began

When was Parsons founded?

1893

The Parsons post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Partinville (1885), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 429 in 19202020 census: 2,100133 years

How historic is Parsons?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Parsons’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parsons is more historic than 28% 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 Parsons’ overall grade.
Founding era1893, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.9% of homes (±3.2) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 3.7 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
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 Parsons’ 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (44% 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 (±3.2 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 →

The story

How Parsons came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Parsons.

Read it all →

Created around 1889 by the Tennessee Midland Railroad Company (TMRC), the city of Parsons was founded by Henry Myracle as he deeded 1431⁄3 acres to the TMRC to start a town on his land. The railroad established Parsons Improvement Co. and Myracle maintained the town. The rail depot was located where the present day BP One Stop is located. A commercial lot, which was used as a tie yard was at present location of CB&S Bank. A storage lot and livestock pens were located where Townsend Chevrolet is presently located. There was a large water tank beside the depot and two packing houses nearby for farmers' produce. There was also a town pump and a small park near the water tank.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Parsons, 1885 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Partinville post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Partinville post office closes
  4. 1893Post officeThe Parsons post office opens
  5. 1898BuiltRains, John P., Hotel is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1940In the archiveBusiness district
  9. 1945Born hereLittle David Wilkins is born here
  10. 1956Born hereCalvin Garrett is born here
By decade

Parsons, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s11 items
Business district1940Business districtBusiness district1940Business districtJennings, Al & Son; Rolling Store1940Jennings, Al & Son; Rolling StoreJennings, Al & Son; Rolling Store1940Jennings, Al & Son; Rolling StorePants factory1940Pants factoryPants factory1940Pants factoryParsons' Auction Company1940Parsons' Auction CompanyPhotograph of Typical Mule Team1940Photograph of Typical Mule TeamPhotograph of Typical Mule Team1940Photograph of Typical Mule TeamRocky Hill School1940Rocky Hill SchoolRocky Hill School1940Rocky Hill School
1950s–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
On the map

Parsons on the map, 1936 to 1986

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

Parsons on the 1936 USGS mapParsons on the 1950 USGS mapParsons on the 1986 USGS map1936Parsons 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 Parsons.

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.

Business district
Retake this viewBusiness district, 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Parsons

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Rains, John P., Hotel
Rains, John P., Hotel, built 1898
Buildings
Rains, John P., HotelBuilt 1898

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

People over time

Parsons, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,452

Between 429 and 2,452 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Parsons

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

See all →
Calvin GarrettAmerican basketball player · b. 1956
Little David WilkinsCountry musician · b. 1945
Places that used to be

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

Parsons’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Partinville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Partinville
1885–1893
Parsons
1893–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bear Creek
Gone or out of use
Longs StorelocaleParsons CollegeschoolParsons High SchoolschoolScott Fieldairport
1cemetery inside Parsons
Parsons

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

Help out

Finish Parsons’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 viewBusiness district: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Parsons’ history

What year was Parsons founded?

The Parsons post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Parsons rank for history?

Parsons is more historic than 28% 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 Parsons?

One place: the Rains, John P., Hotel (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Parsons?

3% of Parsons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1977.

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