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History · Quitman

Quitman’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Quitman was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Quitman began

When was Quitman founded?

1894

The Quitman post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 215 in 19102020 census: 160132 years
Founding year: the first Quitman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Quitman’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 Quitman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quitman’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Quitman, in brief

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

Quitman is a village in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Quitman had a population of 160. Quitman is 15 miles (24 km) south of Ruston on U.S. Highway 167, and 9 miles (14 km) north of Jonesboro, the parish seat of Jackson Parish. It is also adjacent to the Jackson Bienville Wildlife Area. Quitman is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area. East of Quitman is the Jimmie Davis Tabernacle, a gospel meeting hall. Behind the tabernacle are the grave sites of former Governor Jimmie Davis and his first wife, née Alvern Adams. Davis was born and reared in the area in the since abandoned Beech Springs community.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 181 to 160 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Quitman, 1894 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Quitman post office opens
  3. 1899Born hereJimmie Davis is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Quitman, decade by decade

Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Quitman2004LAMap-doton-Quitman
On the map

Quitman on the map, 1953 to 1985

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

Quitman on the 1953 USGS mapQuitman on the 1972 USGS mapQuitman on the 1985 USGS map1953Hodge sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Quitman.

People over time

Quitman, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 231

Between 160 and 231 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Quitman’s history

What year was Quitman founded?

The Quitman post office opened in 1894, 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 (1), 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.