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History · Abbeville

Abbeville’s post office opened in 1843, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Abbeville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Abbeville Colored School. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1880.

1843first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Abbeville began

When was Abbeville founded?

1843

The Abbeville post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 223 in 18802020 census: 372183 years
Founding year: the first Abbeville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Abbeville’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 Abbeville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1843: 183 years of Abbeville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Abbeville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Abbeville, 1843 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1843Post officeThe Abbeville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918Born hereHenry Woods is born here
  5. 1928Born hereStan Kesler is born here
  6. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1964Born hereJennifer Gillom is born here
  8. 1996Born hereShelby McEwen is born here
The story

How Abbeville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Abbeville.

Read it all →

Abbeville was originally settled by pioneers from Abbeville, South Carolina in the 1830s. They lived in apparent peace with the local Chickasaw Indians, whose Chief Toby owned and operated a ferry along the Memphis-Oxford trade route.

During the American Civil War, Abbeville was almost destroyed in the Vicksburg Campaign.

Abbeville post office was established on September 28, 1843, with John B. Davis as the first postmaster.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Abbeville, decade by decade

Today15 recent
Old MS7 South - Abbeville Sign2018Old MS7 South - Abbeville SignMississippi Highway 7 2018 22018Mississippi Highway 7 2018 2Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 32018Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 3Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 22018Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 2Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 12018Mississippi Central Railroad 2018 1Lafayette County Road 244 Mississippi2018Lafayette County Road 244 MississippiAbbeville Mississippi 2018 22018Abbeville Mississippi 2018 2Abbeville Mississippi 2018 12018Abbeville Mississippi 2018 1Old gas station and sporting-goods store2016Old gas station and sporting-goods storeOld cotton-processing plant2016Old cotton-processing plantMississippi Central Railroad2014Mississippi Central RailroadDowntown2014DowntownAbbeville, MS store2014Abbeville, MS storeAbbeville United Methodist Church2014Abbeville United Methodist ChurchRuth and jimmies2008Ruth and jimmies
On the map

Abbeville on the map, 1944 to 1984

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

Abbeville on the 1944 USGS mapAbbeville on the 1956 USGS mapAbbeville on the 1984 USGS map1944Tyro 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 Abbeville.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Abbeville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Abbeville Colored School
Buildings
All 1 listings
Abbeville Colored SchoolBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Abbeville, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 448

Between 223 and 448 people in every census since 1880.

10 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Abbeville

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

See all →
S
Shelby McEwenAmerican high jumper · b. 1996
J
Jennifer GillomBasketball player and coach · b. 1964
S
Stan KeslerAmerican musician, record producer and songwrit… · b. 1928
H
Henry WoodsUnited States federal judge · b. 1918
G
Gerald VaughnPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1970
P
Peggie Gillom-GrandersonUS basketball player and chaplain · b. 1958
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Abbeville’s post office has been open since 1843.

Gone or out of use
Abbeville SchoolschoolMount Vernon Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Abbeville
Abbeville

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

Questions about Abbeville’s history

What year was Abbeville founded?

The Abbeville post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Abbeville?

One place: the Abbeville Colored School (listed 2021).

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 (13), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.