Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Inverness

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Inverness

Inverness’ post office opened in 1899, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1910.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Inverness’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Inverness began

When was Inverness founded?

1899

The Inverness post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 221 in 19102020 census: 868127 years
Founding year: the first Inverness post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Inverness’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,174 in 1990; 868 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Inverness’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewF5 Tornado damage in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Inverness, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,174

Peaked at 1,174 in 1990; 868 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Inverness, in brief

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

Inverness is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 868 at the 2020 census. As the town had the largest cotton gin in the Mississippi Delta, it served as a gathering place for farmers from the region when they brought their cotton for processing. The town was heavily damaged by a tornado in 1971.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,019 to 868 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Inverness, 1899 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899Post officeThe Inverness post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1947Born hereVirgil Robinson is born here
  6. 1951Born hereMary E. Flowers is born here
  7. 1971In the archiveF5 Tornado damage in
  8. 1982In the archiveLittle Milton
  9. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 1,174
By decade

Inverness, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1980s2 items
F5 Tornado damage in1971F5 Tornado damage inLittle Milton1982Little Milton
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today10 recent
Welcome To Inverness sign2023Welcome To Inverness signMS149 South Sign2018MS149 South SignDusk silhouette of a tree near Inverness, Mississippi2017Dusk silhouette of a tree near Inverness, MississippiCotton field, ready for picking, near Inverness, Mississippi2017Cotton field, ready for picking, near Inverness, Miss…Old farm wagon near Inverness, Mississippi2017Old farm wagon near Inverness, MississippiLittleMiltonCampbellBluesTrailMarker2017LittleMiltonCampbellBluesTrailMarkerWelcomeToInvernessSign2016WelcomeToInvernessSignInvernessWelcomeSign2012InvernessWelcomeSignCentral Delta Academy2010Central Delta AcademyMSMap-doton-Inverness2007MSMap-doton-Inverness
On the map

Inverness on the map, 1940 to 1965

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

Inverness on the 1940 USGS mapInverness on the 1965 USGS map1940Baird 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 Inverness.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

F5 Tornado damage in
Retake this viewF5 Tornado damage in, 1971

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Inverness’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Inverness

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Mary E. FlowersAmerican politician · b. 1951
V
Virgil RobinsonAmerican football player · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Inverness’s post office has been open since 1899.

Gone or out of use
Inverness High Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Inverness’ history

What year was Inverness founded?

The Inverness post office opened in 1899, 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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), 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.