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History · Chula

Chula’s post office opened in 1888, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1900.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Chula began

When was Chula founded?

1888

The Chula post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 282 in 19002020 census: 195138 years
Founding year: the first Chula post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chula’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 Chula are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 444 in 1920; 195 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19243 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1983. Watch Chula change.Old housesHalf of Chula’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chula’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chula’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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People over time

Chula, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 444

Peaked at 444 in 1920; 195 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Chula on the map, 1924 to 1983

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

Chula on the 1924 USGS mapChula on the 1947 USGS mapChula on the 1983 USGS map1924Chula 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 Chula.

The story

How Chula came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chula.

Read it all →

A post office called Chula has been in operation since 1888. Chula is a Choctaw Indian name meaning "red fox". It is unclear why the name Chula was applied to this community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chula, 1888 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Chula post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 444
  5. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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Questions about Chula’s history

What year was Chula founded?

The Chula post office opened in 1888, 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 Wikipedia, 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.