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History · De Soto

De Soto’s post office opened in 1856, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Carmichael House and the C. V. Akin House. Below: maps from 1964 on.

1856first post office
2on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How De Soto began

When was De Soto founded?

1856

The De Soto post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 274170 years
Founding year: the first De Soto post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about De Soto’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of De Soto are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start De Soto’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How De Soto came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of De Soto.

Read it all →

De Soto was one of four principle towns established in Clarke County before the American Civil War. Established along the Chickasawhay River before the arrival of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, construction of housing in De Soto may have started as early as 1845 and by 1858 churches were being erected. The town had a Post Office and two churches in 1900 when the population was 258.

In 1855, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad laid track and built a train station at De Soto.

A post office operated under the name De Soto from 1856 to 1978.

At one point, De Soto was home to two sawmills, a drug store, a hotel, a blacksmith, and multiple general stores.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

De Soto, 1856 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe De Soto post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1959Post officeThe De Soto post office closes
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

De Soto on the map, 1964 to 1982

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

De Soto on the 1964 USGS mapDe Soto on the 1982 USGS map1964De Soto sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of De Soto.

On the National Register

2 historic places in De Soto

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Carmichael House
Carmichael HouseC. V. Akin House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Queen Anne1
All 2 listings
Carmichael HouseBuilding · listed 1980C. V. Akin HouseBuilding · listed 1994

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

Famous people

Famous people close to De Soto

Nobody well known was born in De Soto itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Hayley WilliamsAmerican singer · b. 1988
Leontyne PriceAfrican-American soprano · b. 1927
Sela WardAmerican actress, author, and producer · b. 1956
Ray WalstonAmerican actor · b. 1914
Lance BassAmerican singer, dancer, actor, and film and te… · b. 1979
Marsha BlackburnAmerican businesswoman and politician · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

De Soto had its own post office from 1856 to 1959.

De Soto
1856–1959
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Saint John Schoolschool
1cemetery inside De Soto
De Soto

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

Questions about De Soto’s history

What year was De Soto founded?

The De Soto post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in De Soto?

Two places: the Carmichael House (listed 1980) and the C. V. Akin House (1994).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.