Amory’s post office opened in 1887, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #60 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Amory was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Amory and the James Young Thompson House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Amory post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Amory’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Amory is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #60 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Amory’s overall grade.
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 Amory’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Amory’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Amory was founded as a planned railroad town. The Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham Railroad was expanding in the South and needed a midpoint between Memphis, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama, to service their locomotives. They laid out the new town of Amory, near the Alabama border, in 1887.
Believing railroad access to be critical, people from nearby Cotton Gin Port, about 1.5 miles away and located along the Tombigbee River, abandoned their town and moved to Amory. All that remains of the former Cotton Gin Port are the ruins of buildings and an old cemetery.
Two field recordings were made at Monroe County Training School in Amory.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Amory. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1966Amory sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Amory.
Every building
Amory, building by building, 1911–1925
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.
The Amory post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Amory rank for history?
Amory is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #60 of 100 in Mississippi. 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.
What is on the National Register in Amory?
Two places: the US Post Office-Amory (listed 1988) and the James Young Thompson House (1990).
How old are the homes in Amory?
8% of Amory’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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