The story
Read it all →How Ackerman came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ackerman.
It is named for William K. Ackerman, President of the Illinois Central Railroad 1877-1883.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Ackerman
Ackerman’s post office opened in 1883, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1900.
1883first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Ackerman began
When was Ackerman founded?
1883
The Ackerman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 706 in 19002020 census: 1,594143 years
How historic is Ackerman?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ackerman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ackerman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ackerman is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ackerman’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.6% of homes (±5.3) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MS town 71.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Mississippi town has 71.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ackerman’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ackerman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ackerman’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ackerman’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Ackerman, building by building, 1898–1909
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1898Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Ackerman, 1883 to 1976
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Ackerman, decade by decade
2022
2022
2020On the map
Ackerman on the map, 1972 to 2000
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ackerman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1972Ackerman sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ackerman.
People over time
Ackerman, census by census
Between 706 and 1,696 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ackerman’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Ackerman
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Ackerman’s history
What year was Ackerman founded?
The Ackerman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ackerman rank for history?
Ackerman is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Ackerman?
11% of Ackerman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.