Iuka’s post office opened in 1857, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #35 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
13 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 29 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Iuka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Iuka’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Iuka is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #35 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Iuka’s overall grade.
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 Iuka’s 135 sits above most of its state (70% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Iuka’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Iuka is built on the site of a Chickasaw village that is thought to have been subordinate to the settlement at Underwood Village. The name "Iuka" comes from the name of one of the chiefs of the village. Iuka was founded by David Hubbard, a wagon train scout.
Euro-American settlers arrived with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in 1857. Before the American Civil War, the town boasted an all-female college, a boys' military academy, and a fine hotel. The Civil War brought widespread devastation when a major engagement here occurred on September 19, 1862. The Battle of Iuka resulted in 1200 to 1500 killed or wounded. The dead Confederate soldiers were buried in a long trench that eventually became Shady Grove Cemetery.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Iuka’s history
What year was Iuka founded?
The Iuka post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Iuka rank for history?
Iuka is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #35 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.
What is on the National Register in Iuka?
13 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Old Tishomingo County Courthouse (listed 1973, the first), 1 historic district, the Central Iuka Historic District, with 29 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 42 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Iuka?
15% of Iuka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (7), Wikidata (2), 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) 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.
2023
2022
2016
2016
2014
2007
