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Lake County Tennessee CourthousePhoto: Flickr user chiacomo · CC BY 2.0
C+History
History · Tiptonville

Tiptonville dates to 1857, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #99 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Tiptonville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Caldwell-Hopson House. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1880.

1857founded
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tiptonville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tiptonville began

When was Tiptonville founded?

1857

Tiptonville dates its founding to 1857 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 946 in 18802020 census: 3,976169 years

How historic is Tiptonville?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1865.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tiptonville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tiptonville is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #99 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tiptonville’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.0% of homes (±5.5) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 5.6 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 44%

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 Tiptonville’s 5.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). Two sources give 1857.

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 Tiptonville’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 19255 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1981. Watch Tiptonville change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Tiptonville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50018801900192019401960198020002020946 in 1880Low: 363

Lost half of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Tiptonville on the map, 1925 to 1981

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

Tiptonville on the 1925 USGS mapTiptonville on the 1939 USGS mapTiptonville on the 1956 USGS mapTiptonville on the 1964 USGS mapTiptonville on the 1981 USGS map1925Reelfoot Lake sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Tiptonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tiptonville.

Read it all →

Tiptonville was established in 1857, but was not incorporated until 1900. It was designated the county seat when Lake County was created in 1870.

Tiptonville was the scene of the surrender of Confederate forces at the end of the

1862 Battle of Island Number Ten in the American Civil War. The monument for this battle is located on State Route 22 approximately three miles north of Tiptonville, since the island itself, the focal point of the battle, has been eroded by the flow of the Mississippi River and no longer exists.

ChaptersAmerican Civil WarEarly 1900s2000s-present day

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tiptonville, 1857 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857
    FoundingTiptonville is established
  3. 1862In the archiveDetail, Map showing the system of Confederate fortifications on the Mississippi River at …
  4. 1865Post officeThe Tiptonville post office opens
  5. 1891BuiltCaldwell-Hopson House is built
  6. 1893Born hereClifton Bledsoe Cates is born here
  7. 1894Post officeThe Cronanville post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1914Post officeThe Cronanville post office closes
  10. 1917In the archiveTennessee - Reelfoot Lake
  11. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1932Born hereCarl Perkins is born here
  13. 1963Born hereJerry Reese is born here
  14. 21st century
  15. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 4,464
By decade

Tiptonville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
Detail, Map showing the system of Confederate fortifications on the Mississippi River at Island no. 10 and New Madrid, …1862Detail, Map showing the system of Confederate fortifi…MapMap showing the system of Confederate fortifications on the Mississippi River at Island no. 10 and New Madrid, also the…1862Map showing the system of Confederate fortifications …Map
1910s3 items
Tennessee - Reelfoot Lake1917Tennessee - Reelfoot LakeTennessee - Reelfoot Lake1917Tennessee - Reelfoot LakeTennessee1917Tennessee
1920s–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
Every building

Tiptonville, building by building, 1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Tiptonville fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 21914Sheet 2 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Tennessee - Reelfoot Lake
Retake this viewTennessee - Reelfoot Lake, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Tiptonville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Caldwell-Hopson House
Caldwell-Hopson House, built 1891
Buildings
Caldwell-Hopson HouseBuilt 1891

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Tiptonville

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

See all →
Carl PerkinsAmerican guitarist · b. 1932
Clifton Bledsoe CatesUnited States Marine Corps · b. 1893
Jerry ReeseAmerican football player, coach, executive · b. 1963
Places that used to be

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

Tiptonville’s post office has been open since 1865. Another post office, Cronanville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tiptonville
1865–today
Cronanville
1894–1914
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cronanville
Gone or out of use
Free Will Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tiptonville
CitizenFree WillParks

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

Help out

Finish Tiptonville’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 viewTennessee - Reelfoot Lake: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Tiptonville’s history

What year was Tiptonville founded?

In 1857, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Tiptonville’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1880 counted 946 people here.

How does Tiptonville rank for history?

Tiptonville is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #99 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 Tiptonville?

One place: the Caldwell-Hopson House (listed 1993).

How old are the homes in Tiptonville?

9% of Tiptonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.