Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 42 buildings. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1880.
The Williston post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Willis Station (1855) and Walkers Station (1867), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Williston’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Williston’s post office has been open since 1873. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Williston yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Williston is a city in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, Williston had a population of 349.
Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 395 to 349 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltCrawford General Store is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Williston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Williston.
Between 135 and 427 people in every census since 1880.
6 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williston’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Williston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Williston post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Three places: the Crawford General Store (listed 1975), the Crawford's Experiment Farm (1991) and the Williston Historic District (1995).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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.
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