On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rural Hill is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rural Hill’s overall grade.
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 Rural Hill’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Rural Hill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community is sometimes spelled "Ruralhill" in official records. It was located four miles west of Gladeville on Stewart Ferry Pike. On February 9, 1833, A.B. Curry was made the postmaster of the first post office established at Rural Hill, making it one of the earliest post offices in Wilson County. From the time it was opened, the post office had one interruption of service of less than one year before closing in 1903. Rural Hill is mentioned as having held a debate between the candidates for the constitutional convention held in 1834. Rural Hill is also mentioned at least twice in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I Volume 20 mentions two skirmishes between Union patrols and advanced confederate outposts from the Confederate Army of Tennessee, then under the command of Gen. Braxton Bragg and encamped in Murfreesboro. On November 18, 1862, and again on Decemb…
Rural Hill is among the newest 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.
How old are the homes in Rural Hill?
0.0% of Rural Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
