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History · Coffeeville

Coffeeville’s post office opened in 1834, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.

1834first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coffeeville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Coffeeville began

When was Coffeeville founded?

1834

The Coffeeville post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 749 in 18802020 census: 797192 years
Founding year: the first Coffeeville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Coffeeville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,129 in 1980; 797 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Coffeeville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coffeeville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coffeeville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCoffeeville Hotel, Illinois Central & G…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Coffeeville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,129

Peaked at 1,129 in 1980; 797 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Coffeeville, 1834 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Coffeeville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1944Born hereJames Lewis is born here
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980Born hereBelton Johnson is born here
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,129
The story so far

Coffeeville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coffeeville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Coffeeville is a town in and one of two county seats of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Coffeeville had a population of 797. It is named after John Coffee (1772–1833), a planter and military leader. The minor American Civil War Battle of Coffeeville took place near here in December 1862. Water Valley, Mississippi, in the northeastern part of the county, is the second county seat and judicial district. Once a center of railroad shops, it is the largest city in the county.

Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 905 to 797 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Coffeeville, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Coffeeville Hotel, Illinois Central & Gulf Railroad vicinityDate?Coffeeville Hotel, Illinois Central & Gulf Railroad v…
Today4 recent
Depot Street2019Depot StreetCoffeeville Mississippi2019Coffeeville MississippiCoffeeville Hotel2012Coffeeville HotelYalobusha County Courthouse2009Yalobusha County Courthouse
On the map

Coffeeville on the map, 1955 to 2000

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

Coffeeville on the 1955 USGS mapCoffeeville on the 1971 USGS mapCoffeeville on the 1983 USGS mapCoffeeville on the 2000 USGS map1955Coffeeville 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 Coffeeville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Coffeeville Hotel, Illinois Central & Gulf Railroad vicinity
Retake this viewCoffeeville Hotel, Illinois Central & Gulf Railroad vicinity

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coffeeville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Coffeeville

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

See all →
B
Belton JohnsonPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1980
J
James LewisAmerican CIA agent · b. 1944

Questions about Coffeeville’s history

What year was Coffeeville founded?

The Coffeeville post office opened in 1834, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), 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.