Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Leland

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
BHistory
History · Leland

Leland’s post office opened in 1885, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #40 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it

Most of Leland was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 236 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.

1885first post office
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leland began

When was Leland founded?

1885

The Leland post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 485 in 18902020 census: 3,988141 years

How historic is Leland?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Leland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Leland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leland is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Leland’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.6% of homes (±3.7) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 237 historic buildings, 627 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (100)Ahead of 61%

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 Leland’s 627 sits above most of its state (92% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 237 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 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 Leland’s past

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

A historic districtThe Leland Historic District takes in 236 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 6,667 in 1980; 3,988 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1915, drew every building in Leland.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 237 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
237
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
U.S. Post Office
U.S. Post Office, built 1938Leland Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

L-Shaped1
Art Deco1
Colonial Revival1
Bungalow1
Craftsman1
Greek Revival1
U.S. Post OfficeL-Shaped · Built 1938
Leland Historic DistrictArt Deco

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Leland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 6,667

Peaked at 6,667 in 1980; 3,988 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Leland, building by building, 1898–1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Leland fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Leland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leland.

Read it all →

The area in which Leland sits was once part of the Choctaw territory in the early 1800s. After the Second Choctaw Cession, which came from the Treaty of Doak's Stand of 1820, the land was fought over by the United States government and the Choctaw Indians during the American Civil War in which the Choctaw Indians sided with the Confederacy in order to fight the Union for the return of their land.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leland, 1885 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Leland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1926Born hereEddie Cusic is born here
  5. 1927In the archiveLeland, Miss., Deer Creek
  6. 1937In the archiveTheatre
  7. 1938BuiltU.S. Post Office is built
  8. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1941Born hereWadada Leo Smith is born here
  10. 1946Born hereThelma Houston is born here
  11. 1958Born hereJohnie Cooks is born here
  12. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 6,667
By decade

Leland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s11 items
Leland, Miss., Deer Creek1927Leland, Miss., Deer CreekTheatre1937TheatreServices for Negroes in a Mississippi Delta town. Leland, Mississippi1937Services for Negroes in a Mississippi Delta town. Lel…Young Negro boy in the corn. Near Leland, Mississippi1937Young Negro boy in the corn. Near Leland, MississippiCotton buyers office. Leland, Mississippi Delta1939Cotton buyers office. Leland, Mississippi DeltaCotton Row Street1939Cotton Row StreetStaple Cotton Cooperative Association. Leland, Mississippi Delta1939Staple Cotton Cooperative Association. Leland, Missis…Rex Theatre for colored people. Leland, Mississippi Delta1939Rex Theatre for colored people. Leland, Mississippi D…Staple Cotton Coop Association office on street1939Staple Cotton Coop Association office on streetIn the Mississippi Delta. There is an ever-increasing number of Chinese grocerymen and merchants. Leland1939In the Mississippi Delta. There is an ever-increasing…Untitled photo, possibly related to: In the Mississippi Delta. There is an ever-increasing number of Chinese grocerymen…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: In the Mississip…
1940s–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
Today6 recent
Leland Mississippi Kermit Water tower2023Leland Mississippi Kermit Water towerPicture of the Old Leland Train depot from the 1900s2021Picture of the Old Leland Train depot from the 1900sOld Leland High School building before it caught fire in the 1920s2021Old Leland High School building before it caught fire…The Thompson House in Winter2018The Thompson House in WinterLelandMSWelcomeSign2017LelandMSWelcomeSignTModelFordBluesman2009TModelFordBluesman
On the map

Leland on the map, 1939 to 1967

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

Leland on the 1939 USGS mapLeland on the 1967 USGS map1939Tralake 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 Leland.

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.

Leland, Miss., Deer Creek
Retake this viewLeland, Miss., Deer Creek, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

6 famous people were born in Leland

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

See all →
Thelma HoustonAmerican singer · b. 1946
Wadada Leo SmithAmerican jazz trumpeter and composer · b. 1941
J
Johnie CooksAmerican football player · b. 1958
Eddie CusicAmerican guitarist, singer, songwriter and sing… · b. 1926
Christian HolmesAmerican football player · b. 1997
F
Floyd HuddlestonAmerican songwriter, screenwriter, and televisi… · b. 1918
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Leland’s post office has been open since 1885.

Gone or out of use
Lewis Air Service AirportairportLincoln High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Leland
Jake Cemetery Number 2

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

Help out

Finish Leland’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLeland, Miss., Deer Creek: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Leland’s history

What year was Leland founded?

The Leland post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Leland rank for history?

Leland is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Leland?

Two places: the U.S. Post Office (listed 1983) and the Leland Historic District (2004).

How old are the homes in Leland?

8% of Leland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1967.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.