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History · Gunnison

Gunnison’s post office opened in 1889

Most of Gunnison was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1900.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Gunnison began

When was Gunnison founded?

1889

The Gunnison post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 477 in 19002020 census: 295137 years
Founding year: the first Gunnison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gunnison’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 Gunnison are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 708 in 1980; 295 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gunnison’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gunnison, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 708

Peaked at 708 in 1980; 295 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Gunnison, in brief

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

Gunnison is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 295.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 452 to 295 (-35%).

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

Timeline

Gunnison, 1889 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Gunnison post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1968Born hereTim Barnett is born here
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 708
By decade

Gunnison, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Bessie's Service Station2018Bessie's Service StationGunnison, Mississippi2014Gunnison, Mississippi
On the map

Gunnison on the map, 1939 to 1970

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

Gunnison on the 1939 USGS mapGunnison on the 1969 USGS mapGunnison on the 1970 USGS map1939Pace 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 Gunnison.

Questions about Gunnison’s history

What year was Gunnison founded?

The Gunnison post office opened in 1889, 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 (2), 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.