Booneville’s post office opened in 1860, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #59 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Booneville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1870.
The Booneville post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cross Ridge (1846), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 458 in 18702020 census: 9,126166 years
How historic is Booneville?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Booneville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Booneville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Booneville is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #59 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Booneville’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 Booneville’s 34.6 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Booneville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land of Booneville was bought by B.B. Boone, G.W. Williams, and W.P. Curlee from the Chickasaw tribesman Le-Ho-Yea. The community was named for settler Colonel Reuben Holman Boone, a relative of Daniel Boone, the early American pioneer. The city was initially planned in 1848 as part of the construction on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. While the settlement grew rapidly in its early years, the American Civil War began just as the city incorporated in 1861 and slowed the city's progress.
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 Booneville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1921Booneville 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 Booneville.
Every building
Booneville, building by building, 1904–1910
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 Booneville post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Booneville rank for history?
Booneville is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Booneville?
One place: the Downtown Booneville Historic District (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in Booneville?
3% of Booneville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (13), Wikidata (1), 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), 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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