Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Anguilla

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Anguilla

Anguilla’s post office opened in 1884

Most of Anguilla was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1920.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Anguilla began

When was Anguilla founded?

1884

The Anguilla post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mc Kinneyville (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 361 in 19202020 census: 496142 years
Founding year: the first Anguilla post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Anguilla’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 Anguilla are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 950 in 1980; 496 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anguilla’s collection

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

Anguilla, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 950

Peaked at 950 in 1980; 496 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Anguilla came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Anguilla.

Read it all →

The town was heavily damaged by an EF2 tornado on December 13, 2022.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Anguilla, 1875 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Mc Kinneyville post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Mc Kinneyville post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Anguilla post office opens
  5. 1890Born hereHenry "Son" Sims is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1941Born hereIra Harge is born here
  9. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 950
  10. 1982Born hereAntoine Cash is born here
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Anguilla on the map, 1939 to 2000

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

Anguilla on the 1939 USGS mapAnguilla on the 1964 USGS mapAnguilla on the 1988 USGS mapAnguilla on the 2000 USGS map1939Lorenzen 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 Anguilla.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Anguilla

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

See all →
I
Ira HargeAmerican basketball player · b. 1941
Antoine CashAmerican football player · b. 1982
H
Henry "Son" SimsAmerican Delta blues violinist and songwriter · b. 1890
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Anguilla’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Mc Kinneyville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mc Kinneyville
1875–1884
Anguilla
1884–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Anguilla’s history

What year was Anguilla founded?

The Anguilla post office opened in 1884, 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, 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.