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History · Jonestown

Jonestown’s post office opened in 1871

Most of Jonestown was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Jonestown began

When was Jonestown founded?

1871

The Jonestown post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Swan Lake (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 147 in 18802020 census: 962155 years
Founding year: the first Jonestown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jonestown’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 Jonestown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,701 in 2000; 962 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19085 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1970. Watch Jonestown change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jonestown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Jonestown, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,701

Peaked at 1,701 in 2000; 962 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Jonestown on the map, 1908 to 1970

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

Jonestown on the 1908 USGS mapJonestown on the 1910 USGS mapJonestown on the 1932 USGS mapJonestown on the 1969 USGS mapJonestown on the 1970 USGS map1908Jonestown sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jonestown.

The story

How Jonestown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jonestown.

Read it all →

The Matagorda Plantation, located north of Jonestown, was established by Colonel D.M. Russell and his wife before the Civil War. Matagorda was named after a special variety of long-staple cotton raised there.

Jonestown was a stop on the Mobile & North Western Railroad, completed from Jonestown to Lula in 1879. Jonestown was incorporated in 1880.

In 1965, John Wing was elected mayor of Jonestown, the first Chinese-American mayor in Mississippi.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jonestown, 1858 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Swan Lake post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Swan Lake post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Jonestown post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1913Born hereSeelig Wise is born here
  8. 21st century
  9. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,701
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Jonestown’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Swan Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Swan Lake
1858–1867
Jonestown
1871–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Jonestown’s history

What year was Jonestown founded?

The Jonestown post office opened in 1871, 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 →
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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 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.