Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Decatur was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Newton County American Legion Post No. 89 Hut. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1880.
The Decatur post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decatur is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Decatur’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Decatur’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Decatur.
Newton County was created and Decatur established as the county seat in 1836. The Newton County Courthouse was built in Decatur in 1972. It was built by Tatum Concrete Company.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Decatur, cut from the printed page as they were published.
THE town of Decatur was settled in the year 1836, and named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur, of the United States navy.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Newton claims the right to have the court-house. The town of Decatur claims the right to have the court-house remain, and the town of Hickory claims the right to have the court-house go there.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
2024Greenhouse millipede Decatur, MS 1
2024Decatur, Mississippi mural
2024Decatur, Mississippi Post Office
2024Decatur Police and Mississippi Power vehicles
2024Blue Stars 2024 06
2024Blue Stars 2024 05
2024Blue Stars 2024 04
2024Blue Stars 2024 03
2024Blue Stars 2024 02
2024Blue Stars 2024 01
2022Newton County American Legion Post No. 89 Hut-Decatur…
2007MSMap-doton-DecaturEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Decatur. 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 Decatur.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 47 people in 1880 to 1,945 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Decatur’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Decatur’s post office has been open since 1837.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Decatur post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Decatur is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Newton County American Legion Post No. 89 Hut (listed 2007).
3% of Decatur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1985.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
