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B−History
History · Tusculum

Tusculum’s post office opened in 1876, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #91 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Tusculum was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1960.

1876first post office
3on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tusculum’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tusculum began

When was Tusculum founded?

1876

The Tusculum post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1959. Another post office, Greeneville College (1820), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,433 in 19602020 census: 3,298150 years

How historic is Tusculum?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Tusculum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1959.
History grade

What drives Tusculum’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tusculum is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #91 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tusculum’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.9% of homes (±2.6) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register3 listings, 12 historic buildings, 36.0 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 49%

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 Tusculum’s 36.0 sits above most of its state (80% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1959.

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 Tusculum’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Tusculum, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Tusculum had its own post office from 1876 to 1901. Another post office, Greeneville College, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greeneville College
1820–1838
Tusculum
1876–1901
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
College HillsParkland AcresPleasant ViewTusculum PlaceTwin Oaks

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

Help out

Start Tusculum’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTusculum College, State Route 107, Gree…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Tusculum, in brief

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

Tusculum is a city in Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,298 at the 2020 census. It is the site of Tusculum University, the oldest university in Tennessee and the 28th oldest in the United States. Tusculum is a suburb of nearby Greeneville. The population of both Greeneville and Tusculum combined was approximately 18,777 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,663 to 3,298 (+24%).

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

Timeline

Tusculum, 1818 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818BuiltSamuel Doak House is built
  3. 1820Post officeThe Greeneville College post office opens
  4. 1838Post officeThe Greeneville College post office closes
  5. 1868BuiltBrown-Neas House is built
  6. 1876Post officeThe Tusculum post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1901Post officeThe Tusculum post office closes
  9. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Tusculum, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
Tusculum College, State Route 107, Greeneville VicinityDate?Tusculum College, State Route 107, Greeneville Vicini…Tusculum College, Virginia Hall, State Route 107, Greenville VicinityDate?Tusculum College, Virginia Hall, State Route 107, Gre…Tusculum College, McCormick Hall, State Route 107, Greeneville VicinityDate?Tusculum College, McCormick Hall, State Route 107, Gr…Doak HouseDate?Doak HouseDoak House, Springhouse, State Route 107, Greeneville VicinityDate?Doak House, Springhouse, State Route 107, Greeneville…
Today2 recent
Samuel-Doak-house-tn12015Samuel-Doak-house-tn1Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church Tusculum Tennessee 9-29-20062006Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church Tusculum Tennes…
On the map

Tusculum on the map, 1936 to 1961

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

Tusculum on the 1936 USGS mapTusculum on the 1940 USGS mapTusculum on the 1961 USGS map1936Greeneville 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 Tusculum.

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.

Tusculum College, State Route 107, Greeneville Vicinity
Retake this viewTusculum College, State Route 107, Greeneville Vicinity

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 listings protect 12 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
12
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Samuel Doak House
Samuel Doak House, built 1818Brown-Neas House, built 1868Tusculum College Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Samuel Doak HouseBuilt 1818
Brown-Neas HouseBuilt 1868
All 3 listings
Tusculum College Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1980

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

People over time

Tusculum, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50019601980200020203,298

Grew from 1,433 people in 1960 to 3,298 in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Greeneville5 historic placesA−

Questions about Tusculum’s history

What year was Tusculum founded?

The Tusculum post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1959.

How does Tusculum rank for history?

Tusculum is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #91 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 Tusculum?

Three places: the Samuel Doak House (listed 1975), the Brown-Neas House (1984) and the Tusculum College Historic District (1980).

How old are the homes in Tusculum?

4% of Tusculum’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1979.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.