Its Register listing is the Steel-Seneker Houses. Most of Walnut Hill was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1935 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Walnut Hill is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. 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 Walnut 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 Walnut Hill’s 20.7 sits above most of its state (74% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±2.7 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 Walnut Hill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrossHill CountryMaple HillMount Area EstatesOakleigh EstatesRock Hill ParkSunny Hills
Gone or out of use
Ferndale Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Walnut Hill
ClarkSnodgrass
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Walnut Hill, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Walnut Hill yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Walnut Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 2,394 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,394 to 2,331 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Walnut Hill is more historic than 46% 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.
What is on the National Register in Walnut Hill?
One place: the Steel-Seneker Houses (listed 1977).
How old are the homes in Walnut Hill?
3% of Walnut Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
