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BHistory
History · Baldwyn

Baldwyn’s post office opened in 1860, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #38 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it

Most of Baldwyn was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 164 buildings. Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1870.

1860first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Matthew N from Oxford, MS, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Baldwyn began

When was Baldwyn founded?

1860

The Baldwyn post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Carrollsville (1837), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 133 in 18702020 census: 3,071166 years

How historic is Baldwyn?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Baldwyn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Baldwyn’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baldwyn is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #38 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Baldwyn’s overall grade.
Founding era1860, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.3% of homes (±5.5) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 165 historic buildings, 526 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 63%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (100)Ahead of 63%

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 Baldwyn’s 526 sits above most of its state (90% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 165 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 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 Baldwyn’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Baldwyn Historic District takes in 164 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Baldwyn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 165 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
165
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Baldwyn Historic District
Baldwyn Historic DistrictBaldwyn Medical Group
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Ranch2
Queen Anne1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Tudor Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Minimal Traditional1
All 2 listings
Baldwyn Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2011Baldwyn Medical GroupBuilding · listed 2021

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

Help out

Start Baldwyn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Baldwyn’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
The story

How Baldwyn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Baldwyn.

Read it all →

Located five miles north of Guntown, the main street of Baldwyn runs along the county line of Lee and Prentiss counties. It has the unusual distinction of having been incorporated in four counties. Founded on November 20, 1860, it was incorporated by an act of the Legislature in Tishomingo and Itawamba counties on April 1, 1861. Lee county was formed from parts of Itawamba and Pontotoc on October 26, 1866, while Tishomingo was divided into Alcorn, Prentiss, and Tishomingo on April 15, 1870.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Baldwyn, 1837 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Carrollsville post office opens
  3. 1860Post officeThe Carrollsville post office closes
  4. 1860Post officeThe Baldwyn post office opens
  5. 1887Born hereElijah Allen Cox is born here
  6. 1892Born hereElijah Pierce is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1916Born hereDorothy Vredenburgh Bush is born here
  9. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1923Born hereBabe McCarthy is born here
By decade

Baldwyn, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Downtown2011DowntownDowntown2011DowntownBrice's Crossroads Overlook Road2011Brice's Crossroads Overlook RoadBrice's Crossroads Battlefield Scenic Overlook2011Brice's Crossroads Battlefield Scenic OverlookBrice's Crossroads Battlefield Monument2011Brice's Crossroads Battlefield Monument
On the map

Baldwyn on the map, 1921 to 1973

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

Baldwyn on the 1921 USGS mapBaldwyn on the 1973 USGS map1921Booneville 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 Baldwyn.

People over time

Baldwyn, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,427

Between 133 and 3,427 people in every census since 1870.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Baldwyn

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

See all →
Babe McCarthyAmerican basketball coach · b. 1923
Elijah PierceAmerican wood carver · b. 1892
E
Elijah Allen CoxUnited States federal judge · b. 1887
D
Dorothy Vredenburgh BushUS administrator, secretary of the Democratic N… · b. 1916
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Baldwyn’s post office has been open since 1860. Another post office, Carrollsville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Carrollsville
1837–1860
Baldwyn
1860–today
18301930today
Gone or out of use
CarrollvillelocaleSand Hill Churchchurch
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Baldwyn
CarrollvilleMasonicMount NeboOld CalvarySand Hill

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

GuntownIts storyD

Questions about Baldwyn’s history

What year was Baldwyn founded?

The Baldwyn post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Baldwyn rank for history?

Baldwyn is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Baldwyn?

Two places: the Baldwyn Historic District (listed 2011) and the Baldwyn Medical Group (2021).

How old are the homes in Baldwyn?

9% of Baldwyn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1982.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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) 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.