Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pigeon Forge

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge’s post office opened in 1841, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #103 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Pigeon Forge Mill. Most of Pigeon Forge was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1970.

1841first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pigeon Forge’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pigeon Forge began

When was Pigeon Forge founded?

1841

The Pigeon Forge post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Walden's Creek (1837), Henderson's Spring (1858) and Middle Creek (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,361 in 19702020 census: 6,343185 years

How historic is Pigeon Forge?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Pigeon Forge’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pigeon Forge is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #103 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 Pigeon Forge’s overall grade.
Founding era1841, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.1) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 1.6 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 42%

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 Pigeon Forge’s 1.6 sits near the middle of its state (37% 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 B. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Pigeon Forge’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pigeon Forge, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1841: 185 years of Pigeon Forge.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Pigeon Forge had its own post office from 1841 to 1903. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Walden's Creek
1837–1895
Pigeon Forge
1841–1903
Henderson's Spring
1858–1901
Middle Creek
1879–1901
Shilo Church
1888–1901
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Conner HeightsHenderson SpringsMiddle CreekMount ZionPine GroveWaldens Creek
Gone or out of use
Marshall Grove ChurchchurchMiddle Creek SchoolschoolPine Grove Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pigeon Forge
Mount ZionPigeon Forge BaptistPigeon Forge MethodistShiloh MemorialSmoky Mountain Memory Gardens

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

Timeline

Pigeon Forge, 1837 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Walden's Creek post office opens
  3. 1841Post officeThe Pigeon Forge post office opens
  4. 1858Post officeThe Henderson's Spring post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Walden's Creek post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Henderson's Spring post office closes
  8. 1903Post officeThe Pigeon Forge post office closes
  9. 1930In the archiveFort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (85645)
  10. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1984In the archiveAdventure Golf sign, Route 441
The story

How Pigeon Forge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pigeon Forge.

Read it all →

The name "Pigeon Forge" comes from an iron forge built by Isaac Love (1783–1854) some time around 1820. The name of this forge referred to its location along the Little Pigeon River, in the vicinity of what became the Old Mill. The name of the river comes from the flocks of passenger pigeons that frequented its banks when the first Euro-American settlers arrived.

ChaptersEarly history18th century19th century20th century21st centuryRegistered historic sites

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Pigeon Forge, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Fort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (85645)c. 1930Fort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (85645)
1940s–1970snothing 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
1980s4 items
Adventure Golf sign, Route 4411984Adventure Golf sign, Route 441Bearland Park Zoo1984Bearland Park ZooBearland Park, 200 entrance, Route 4411984Bearland Park, 200 entrance, Route 441Rooster statue at Shirt World, Route 4411984Rooster statue at Shirt World, Route 441
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
Today13 recent
Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show, Pigeon Forge, TN IMG 50422012Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show, Pigeon Forge, TN IMG 50…Br Buddy in2012Br Buddy inAmerican Oldies Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN IMG 49632012American Oldies Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN IMG 4963Pigeon Forge tourism2011Pigeon Forge tourismPigeon Forge commercial2010Pigeon Forge commercialRamphastos swainsonii -Parrot Mountain and Gardens, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA-8a2009Ramphastos swainsonii -Parrot Mountain and Gardens, P…Pigeonforgeandmountleconte2009PigeonforgeandmountleconteWearmonument22007Wearmonument2ThomAdcox2007ThomAdcoxShack in Pigeon Forge, TN by Zachary Davies2007Shack in Pigeon Forge, TN by Zachary DaviesPigeonforgesign22007Pigeonforgesign2Outletmalls22007Outletmalls2DMC-04-TN2004DMC-04-TN
On the map

Pigeon Forge on the map, 1935 to 1970

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

Pigeon Forge on the 1935 USGS mapPigeon Forge on the 1940 USGS mapPigeon Forge on the 1956 USGS mapPigeon Forge on the 1970 USGS map1935Pigeon Forge 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 Pigeon Forge.

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.

Fort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (85645)
Retake this viewFort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (85645), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Pigeon Forge

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
1975
Pigeon Forge Mill
Pigeon Forge Mill
Buildings
Pigeon Forge MillBuilding

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

People over time

Pigeon Forge, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0001980200020206,343

Grew from 1,361 people in 1970 to 6,343 in 2020, 4 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Pigeon Forge’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFort Weare Game Park, Pigeon Forge, Ten…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sevierville13 historic placesB+

Questions about Pigeon Forge’s history

What year was Pigeon Forge founded?

The Pigeon Forge post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Pigeon Forge rank for history?

Pigeon Forge is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #103 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 Pigeon Forge?

One place: the Pigeon Forge Mill (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Pigeon Forge?

1% of Pigeon Forge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1995.

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 (18), 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.