Brandon’s post office opened in 1829, and 9 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #50 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Brandon was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 28 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1860.
The Brandon post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Brandon Depot (1913) and Value (1917), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 867 in 18602020 census: 25,138197 years
How historic is Brandon?
B−
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Brandon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brandon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brandon is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #50 of 100 in Mississippi. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brandon’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 Brandon’s 14.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 (±0.5 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 Brandon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city is named for Gerard Brandon, Governor of Mississippi during the early 1800s. A newspaper, The News, was established in 1892. The Brandon Bank was established in 1900, and The Rankin County Bank was established in 1906. In 1900, Brandon had a school, a telephone and telegraph office, a saw mill, two livery stables, two cotton gins, two hotels, six churches, and fifteen or twenty stores. The population was 775.
The Brandon post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Brandon rank for history?
Brandon is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #50 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 Brandon?
9 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Hebron Academy (listed 1978, the first), 3 historic districts, the Pearl Street Historic District, the Downtown Brandon Historic District and the South College Street Historic District, with 28 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 object. 37 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Brandon?
0.5% of Brandon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (10), Wikidata (8), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.
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