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Petersburg-fire-dept-town-hall-tnPhoto: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Petersburg

Petersburg’s post office opened in 1831, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 126 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1880.

1831first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Petersburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Petersburg began

When was Petersburg founded?

1831

The Petersburg post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 528195 years
Founding year: the first Petersburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Petersburg’s past

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

A historic districtThe Petersburg Historic District takes in 126 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Petersburg.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 126 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
126
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Petersburg Historic District
Petersburg Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Petersburg Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1985

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

Help out

Start Petersburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Petersburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Petersburg, 1831 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Petersburg post office opens
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Lincoln County - Petersburg - ED 52-14
  4. 1899Born hereHenry Wakefield is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Petersburg, in brief

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

Petersburg is a town in Lincoln and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, Petersburg had a population of 528. It used to be the location of Morgan school before consolidation.

Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 544 to 528 (-3%).

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

By decade

Petersburg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Lincoln County - Petersburg - ED 52-1418801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - L…
1890s–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
Today9 recent
Petersburg-post-office-tn2019Petersburg-post-office-tnPetersburg-old-block-tn2019Petersburg-old-block-tnPetersburg-fire-dept-town-hall-tn2019Petersburg-fire-dept-town-hall-tnPetersburg-Town-Hall-tn2019Petersburg-Town-Hall-tnPetersburg-Spring-431-tn2019Petersburg-Spring-431-tnPetersburg-Marsh-tn2019Petersburg-Marsh-tnPetersburg-Kings-Mountain-Messenger-marker-tn2019Petersburg-Kings-Mountain-Messenger-marker-tnPetersburg-Fire-Department-tn2019Petersburg-Fire-Department-tnPetersburg-Church-of-Christ-tn2019Petersburg-Church-of-Christ-tn
On the map

Petersburg on the map, 1936 to 1980

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

Petersburg on the 1936 USGS mapPetersburg on the 1951 USGS mapPetersburg on the 1967 USGS mapPetersburg on the 1980 USGS map1936Petersburg 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 Petersburg.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Lincoln County - Petersburg - ED 52-14
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Tennessee - Lincoln County - Petersburg - ED 52-14, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Petersburg, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 681

Between 150 and 681 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Petersburg’s post office has been open since 1831.

Gone or out of use
Elizabeth Training SchoolschoolPetersburg Elementary Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Petersburg
CumberlandMarshOld Orchard

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

Questions about Petersburg’s history

What year was Petersburg founded?

The Petersburg post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Petersburg?

One place: the Petersburg Historic District (listed 1985).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (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.