Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #62 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Fulton was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1850.
The Fulton post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fulton is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #62 of 100 in Mississippi. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Fulton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Fulton’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fulton’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFulton, Mississippi, United States - c. 1890s
Born hereJimmie Lunceford is born here
In the archiveLion Service Station
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveUSACE Fulton Lock and DamFrom Wikipedia’s history of Fulton.
Fulton is named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat. The city was incorporated on May 11, 1837. The U.S. post office was established on July 26, 1837, marking the official launch of the service in Fulton.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2020Jimmie Lunceford - Mississippi Blues Trail Marker
2018Fulton-water-tower-ms
2018Fulton-historical-marker-ms
2018Fulton-Tenn-Tom-Waterway-Trail-ms
2018Fulton-Main-courthouse-square-ms
2018Fulton-Itawamba-County-Courthouse-ms
2018Fulton-ICC-tower-ms
2018Fulton-Gaither-courthouse-square-ms
2018Fulton-City-Hall-msEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fulton. 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 Fulton.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fulton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Fulton post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fulton is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #62 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.
4% of Fulton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), 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.
