Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #28 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Greenville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 13 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 197 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1860.
Greenville dates its founding to 1824 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #28 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold 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 Greenville’s 73.1 sits above most of its state (66% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 206 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Greenville’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1887Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Greenville.
This area was occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. When the French explored here, they encountered the historic Natchez people. As part of their colony known as La Louisiane, the French established a settlement at what became Natchez, Mississippi. Other Native American tribes also lived in what is now known as Mississippi.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveOld Greenville before it was "Old" - Detail of 1819 John Melish map of Mississippi
In the archive1823 map of Jefferson County MississippiBuiltWetherbee House is builtBuiltOld Delta Democrat Times Building is built
In the archiveGreenville Mississippi telephone directory, 1900BuiltFirst National Bank of Greenville is builtBuiltBank of Washington is built
Born hereJim Henson is born here
Born hereMary Wilson is born here
Born hereFinn Carter is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1810s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenville.
1970Greenville sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greenville.
Peaked at 45,226 in 1990; 29,670 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Greenville’s post office has been open since 1847.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1824, according to Wikidata. Greenville’s post office opened in 1847, and the census of 1860 counted 760 people here.
Greenville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #28 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.
13 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Wetherbee House (listed 1977, the first), 3 historic districts, the Greenville Commercial Historic District, the Washington Avenue-Main Street Historic District and the Gamwyn Park Historic District, with 197 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 206 historic buildings in all.
5% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
