Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Burnsville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1880.
The Burnsville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burnsville’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burnsville’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Burnsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Burnsville is a town in Tishomingo County in northeastern Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Burnsville had a population of 868.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 936 to 868 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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 Burnsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Burnsville.
Nobody well known was born in Burnsville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Burnsville’s post office has been open since 1856.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Burnsville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
