Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Horn Lake post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lynchburg (1901), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horn Lake is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #66 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 Horn Lake’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (44% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 Horn Lake’s history is told.
Horn Lake’s post office has been open since 1853. Another post office, Lynchburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Horn Lake.
Horn Lake traces its name to an ox-bow lake, lying three miles west, which was a former riverbed of the Mississippi River. The river changed course over time in the late 18th century, leaving a stranded area that resembles a cow horn. That's how the city got its name, in old maps indicated the origin taking place between 1765 and 1796.
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.
Born hereVan H. Manning is born here
Born hereBig Walter Horton is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereNakobe Dean is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horn Lake. 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 Horn Lake.
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 2,170 people in 1970 to 26,736 in 2020, more than tenfold.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Horn Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Horn Lake post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Horn Lake is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #66 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.
One place: the Circle G Ranch (listed 2019).
1% of Horn Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (6), 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) 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.
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