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History · Coffeeville

Coffeeville’s post office opened in 1817, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1895 on.

1817first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Coffeeville began

When was Coffeeville founded?

1817

The Coffeeville post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 263209 years
Founding year: the first Coffeeville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Coffeeville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1817: 209 years of Coffeeville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coffeeville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFort Easley: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Coffeeville, 1817 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1817Post officeThe Coffeeville post office opens
  3. 1890Born hereTom Long is born here
  4. 1895In the archiveFort Easley
  5. 20th century
  6. 1986Born hereAshton Shepherd is born here
The story

How Coffeeville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coffeeville.

Read it all →

The town of Coffeeville was incorporated in 1817, and named after General John Coffee.

In 1892, Coffeeville was the site for a violent confrontation around economic and racial divides that later became known as the Mitcham War.

In 1939, racial violence in Coffeeville was brought to the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt following a near-lynching incident involving the complicity of the mayor of Coffeeville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Coffeeville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Fort Easley1895Fort Easley
1900s–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
Today1 recent
Almost Like a Planter2007Almost Like a Planter
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.

Fort Easley
Retake this viewFort Easley, 1895

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Coffeeville

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

See all →
A
Ashton ShepherdAmerican country music singer-songwriter · b. 1986
Tom LongAmerican baseball player · b. 1890
W
Willie J. SlaterAmerican football player and coach
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Coffeeville’s post office has been open since 1817.

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coffeeville
CoffeevilleThorntonUlcanush

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

Questions about Coffeeville’s history

What year was Coffeeville founded?

The Coffeeville post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.