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History · Wartburg

Wartburg dates to 1840, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Wartburg was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Tanner Store. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1880.

1840founded
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wartburg began

When was Wartburg founded?

1840

Wartburg dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 848186 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1858.The full story ↓

What stands out about Wartburg’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Wartburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Wartburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wartburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Wartburg, 1840 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840
    FoundingWartburg is established
  3. 1858Post officeThe Wartburg post office opens
  4. 1861Born hereJoseph Knaffl is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906BuiltTanner Store is built
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Wartburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wartburg.

Read it all →

In 1805, the Cherokee ceded what is now Morgan County to the United States by signing the Third Treaty of Tellico. The first settlers arrived in the area shortly thereafter.

Wartburg was founded in the mid-1840s by Georg Friedrich Gerding (later anglicized as George Frederick), a land speculator who bought up large tracts of land in what is now Morgan County and organized the East Tennessee Colonization Company with plans to establish a series of German colonies in the Cumberland region.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Wartburg, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Tanners Store2017Tanners StoreWartburg-post-office-tn12016Wartburg-post-office-tn1Wartburg-from-Watertank-tn22016Wartburg-from-Watertank-tn2Wartburg-from-Watertank-tn12016Wartburg-from-Watertank-tn1Wartburg-from-Spring-tn12016Wartburg-from-Spring-tn1Wartburg-Presbyterian-Church-tn12016Wartburg-Presbyterian-Church-tn1Wartburg-Kingston-Street-tn22016Wartburg-Kingston-Street-tn2Wartburg-Kingston-Street-tn12016Wartburg-Kingston-Street-tn1Wartburg-City-Hall-tn22016Wartburg-City-Hall-tn2Wartburg-tennessee-city-hall12008Wartburg-tennessee-city-hall1Ruined View2006Ruined View
On the map

Wartburg on the map, 1935 to 1979

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

Wartburg on the 1935 USGS mapWartburg on the 1946 USGS mapWartburg on the 1952 USGS mapWartburg on the 1967 USGS mapWartburg on the 1979 USGS map1935Camp Austin 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 Wartburg.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Wartburg

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Tanner Store
Tanner Store, built 1906
Buildings
Tanner StoreBuilt 1906

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

People over time

Wartburg, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 932

Between 150 and 932 people in every census since 1880.

8 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Wartburg’s history

What year was Wartburg founded?

In 1840, according to Wikidata. Wartburg’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 150 people here.

What is on the National Register in Wartburg?

One place: the Tanner Store (listed 2017).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (2), 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) 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.