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B−History
History · Spring Hill

Spring Hill dates to 1808, and 12 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #74 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Spring Hill was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2009. 12 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 16 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.

1808founded
12on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Spring Hill’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Spring Hill began

When was Spring Hill founded?

1808

Spring Hill dates its founding to 1808 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 400 in 18802020 census: 50,005218 years

How historic is Spring Hill?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Spring Hill’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Hill is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #74 of 177 in Tennessee. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Hill’s overall grade.
Founding era1808, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.2% of homes (±0.9) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register12 listings, 33 historic buildings, 5.9 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 59%

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 Spring Hill’s 5.9 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 33 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1808.

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 Spring Hill’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.Landmarks on the Register12 places on the National Register.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Spring Hill, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spring Hill’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChurch near Spring Hill re-internment c…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Spring Hill, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00018801900192019401960198020002020695 in 1910Low: 403

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the National Register

12 historic places in Spring Hill

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

places listed
12
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
33
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Grace Episcopal Church
Grace Episcopal ChurchEwell Farm, built 1867Martin Cheairs House, built 1851Ritter-Morton HouseWhite Hall, built 1844Spring Hill Presbyterian ChurchRippavillaSt. Mark United Primitive Baptist ChurchAbsalom Thompson HouseMaplewood FarmCleburne Jersey FarmHaynes Haven Stock FarmOld Stone Creamery
BuildingsDistricts
Grace Episcopal ChurchBuilding
Ewell FarmBuilt 1867
Martin Cheairs HouseBuilt 1851
Ritter-Morton HouseBuilding
White HallBuilt 1844
Spring Hill Presbyterian ChurchBuilding
RippavillaBuilding
St. Mark United Primitive Baptist ChurchBuilding
All 13 listings
Absalom Thompson HouseBuilding · listed 1979Maplewood FarmBuilding · listed 1993Cleburne Jersey FarmDistrict · listed 2000Haynes Haven Stock FarmDistrict · listed 2023Old Stone CreameryBuilding · listed 2025

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

The story

How Spring Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spring Hill.

Read it all →

The first settlers of Spring Hill arrived in 1808 and the city was established in 1809. Albert Russell was the first person to build a home on the land that became Spring Hill.

Spring Hill was the site of a Civil War battle, now known as the Battle of Spring Hill, on November 29, 1864.

Later, Spring Hill was the home of a preparatory school, Branham and Hughes Military Academy, the campus of which then served as the main campus of Tennessee Children's Home, a ministry associated with the Churches of Christ.

On January 10, 1963, an F3 tornado tore through the center of the town, damaging many buildings and causing $500,000 in damage.

ChaptersRecent growth

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spring Hill, 1808 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1808
    FoundingSpring Hill is established
  3. 1826Post officeThe Spring Hill post office opens
  4. 1844BuiltWhite Hall is built
  5. 1851BuiltMartin Cheairs House is built
  6. 1855Born hereWilliam Banks Caperton is born here
  7. 1857Born hereA. Jeff McLemore is born here
  8. 1867BuiltEwell Farm is built
  9. 1878Post officeThe Kedron post office opens
  10. 20th century
  11. 1903Post officeThe Kedron post office closes
  12. 1937In the archiveChurch near Spring Hill re-internment cemetary
  13. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1995Born hereRashaan Gaulden is born here
  15. 21st century
  16. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 50,005
By decade

Spring Hill, decade by decade

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

1930s1 item
Church near Spring Hill re-internment cemetary1937Church near Spring Hill re-internment cemetary
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
Today5 recent
Spring Hill City Hall2013Spring Hill City HallGrace Episcopal Church2013Grace Episcopal ChurchSpring Hill Battlefield Tennessee2009Spring Hill Battlefield TennesseeEwell Farm2009Ewell FarmCheairs Mansion2009Cheairs Mansion
On the map

Spring Hill on the map, 1956 to 1985

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

Spring Hill on the 1956 USGS mapSpring Hill on the 1978 USGS mapSpring Hill on the 1985 USGS map1956Columbia sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Spring Hill.

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.

Church near Spring Hill re-internment cemetary
Retake this viewChurch near Spring Hill re-internment cemetary, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Spring Hill

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

See all →
A. Jeff McLemoreAmerican politician · b. 1857
William Banks CapertonUnited States admiral · b. 1855
Rashaan GauldenAmerican football player · b. 1995
Places that used to be

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

Spring Hill’s post office has been open since 1826. Another post office, Kedron, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Spring Hill
1826–today
Kedron
1878–1903
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KedronKleburneNew Town
Gone or out of use
Branham and Hughes Military AcademyschoolGreenwood SchoolschoolOglebys MilllocaleOld Brick ChurchchurchRourkes MilllocaleSpring Hill SchoolschoolUniversity of Tennessee Minemine
23cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spring Hill
BaileyBenjamin WatkinsBlackBlairBrownCaldwellCapertonChildressEvansNew TownNicholsonNicholsonOld Brick ChurchPointerPointerSpring HillStephensonThompsonWadeWaltonWellsWellsWells
See all 23

Bailey Cemetery · Benjamin Watkins Cemetery · Black Cemetery · Blair Cemetery · Brown Cemetery · Caldwell Cemetery · Caperton Cemetery · Childress Cemetery · Evans Cemetery · New Town Cemetery · Nicholson Cemetery · Nicholson Cemetery · Old Brick Church Cemetery · Pointer Cemetery · Pointer Cemetery · Spring Hill Cemetery · Stephenson Cemetery · Thompson Cemetery · Wade Cemetery · Walton Cemetery · Wells Cemetery · Wells Cemetery · Wells Cemetery

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Thompson's Station6 historic placesC+Columbia33 historic placesA−

Questions about Spring Hill’s history

What year was Spring Hill founded?

In 1808, according to Wikidata. Spring Hill’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1880 counted 400 people here.

How does Spring Hill rank for history?

Spring Hill is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #74 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 Spring Hill?

12 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Grace Episcopal Church (listed 1976, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Cleburne Jersey Farm and the Haynes Haven Stock Farm, with 16 contributing buildings. 33 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Spring Hill?

1% of Spring Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 2009.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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.