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History · Delta

Delta’s post office opened in 1914

Most of Delta was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1910.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Delta began

When was Delta founded?

1914

The Delta post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 175 in 19102020 census: 376112 years
Founding year: the first Delta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Delta’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 Delta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 524 in 1980; 376 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Delta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Delta’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

Delta, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 524

Peaked at 524 in 1980; 376 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Delta, in brief

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

Delta is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. The population was 376 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1914. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 438 to 376 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Delta, 1914 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914Post officeThe Delta post office opens
  3. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 524
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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On the map

Delta on the map, 1934 to 1963

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

Delta on the 1934 USGS mapDelta on the 1963 USGS map1934Morley 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 Delta.

Famous people

Famous people close to Delta

Nobody well known was born in Delta itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rush LimbaughAmerican political commentator · b. 1951
Linda M. GodwinAmerican astronaut · b. 1952
Roy ThomasAmerican comic book writer and editor · b. 1940
Terry JonesAmerican anti-Islamic right wing activist and t… · b. 1951
B
Billy SwanAmerican musician and songwriter · b. 1942
Chic HechtAmerican politician · b. 1928

Questions about Delta’s history

What year was Delta founded?

The Delta post office opened in 1914, 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 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.