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History · Kilmichael

Kilmichael’s post office opened in 1876, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1900.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kilmichael’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kilmichael began

When was Kilmichael founded?

1876

The Kilmichael post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 227 in 19002020 census: 639150 years
Founding year: the first Kilmichael post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kilmichael’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 906 in 1980; 639 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kilmichael’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewKilmichaelMSSign: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kilmichael, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 906

Peaked at 906 in 1980; 639 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Kilmichael came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kilmichael.

Read it all →

The population in 1900 was 227. The Bank of Kilmichael was established in 1904.

In 2001, the all-white board of aldermen cancelled town elections after citing a need for more time to implement election changes. Allegedly, the elections were delayed in order to avoid electing black politicians. The Justice Department intervened under the Voting Rights Act and forced a special election, in which Kilmichael elected its first black mayor and three black aldermen.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kilmichael, 1876 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Kilmichael post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 906
By decade

Kilmichael, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
KilmichaelMSSignDate?KilmichaelMSSign
Today3 recent
Kilmichael Welcome Sign2022Kilmichael Welcome SignB.B. King's Roots Blues Trail Marker2020B.B. King's Roots Blues Trail MarkerUntitled photo2018Untitled photo
On the map

Kilmichael on the map in 1966

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kilmichael.

Kilmichael on the 1966 USGS map1966Kilmichael 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 Kilmichael.

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.

KilmichaelMSSign
Retake this viewKilmichaelMSSign

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Kilmichael’s history

What year was Kilmichael founded?

The Kilmichael post office opened in 1876, 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 (4), Wikipedia, 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.