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History · Lula

Lula’s post office opened in 1884

Most of Lula was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1900.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lula’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lula began

When was Lula founded?

1884

The Lula post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 174 in 19002020 census: 204142 years
Founding year: the first Lula post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lula’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 503 in 1940; 204 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19085 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1970. Watch Lula change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lula’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCotton choppers on northwest part of th…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lula, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 503

Peaked at 503 in 1940; 204 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Lula on the map, 1908 to 1970

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

Lula on the 1908 USGS mapLula on the 1912 USGS mapLula on the 1932 USGS mapLula on the 1969 USGS mapLula on the 1970 USGS map1908Lula 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 Lula.

The story

How Lula came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lula.

Read it all →

The town of Lula was chartered by the state of Mississippi on February 24, 1890 and platted a few years prior, when the Louisville, New Orleans, and Texas Railroad built a line through the area in 1884.

On April 26, 2011, a tornado—part of the 2011 Super Outbreak—traveled from Elaine, Arkansas, to Lula. The tornado was rated EF0, with estimated wind speeds of 75 mph (121 km/h; 65 kn). The tornado's path of destruction was 200 yards (180 m) wide and the tornado travelled a path of 21.5 miles (34.6 km) along Highway 61. The tornado ripped the roof off a church near Lula.

ChaptersTornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lula, 1869 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Born hereMaud Jeffries is born here
  3. 1884Post officeThe Lula post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1930Born hereRex Armistead is born here
  7. 1933Born hereUnita Blackwell is born here
  8. 1936In the archiveCotton choppers on northwest part of the Mississippi Delta land near Lula, Mississippi
  9. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 503
  10. 1952Born hereRansom A. Myers is born here
By decade

Lula, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Cotton choppers on northwest part of the Mississippi Delta land near Lula, Mississippi1936Cotton choppers on northwest part of the Mississippi …
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
Today15 recent
Remains of an old gas station2016Remains of an old gas stationWhat's left of a very old gas station in "downtown" Lula, Mississippi2016What's left of a very old gas station in "downtown" L…Old commercial buildings2016Old commercial buildingsOld cotton gin2016Old cotton ginOld cotton gin2016Old cotton ginA "crawler" sprinkler in a farm field outside Lula, Mississippi2016A "crawler" sprinkler in a farm field outside Lula, M…Humble home2016Humble homeDecrepit house and porch furnishings2016Decrepit house and porch furnishingsMississippi River bridge between farmland near Lula, Mississippi, and Helena, Arkansas2016Mississippi River bridge between farmland near Lula, …Old cotton gin near Lula, Mississippi2016Old cotton gin near Lula, MississippiAgricultural sheds2016Agricultural shedsAgricultural sheds2016Agricultural shedsLula, Mississippi2014Lula, MississippiMSMap-doton-Lula2007MSMap-doton-LulaPlanted field in Lula, Mississippi, on June 2, 20062006Planted field in Lula, Mississippi, on June 2, 2006
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.

Cotton choppers on northwest part of the Mississippi Delta land near Lula, Mississippi
Retake this viewCotton choppers on northwest part of the Mississippi Delta land near Lula, Mississippi, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Lula

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

See all →
Unita BlackwellAmerican civil rights activist · b. 1933
Maud JeffriesAmerican actress · b. 1869
R
Rex ArmisteadAmerican Private detective, Conservative politi… · b. 1930
Ransom A. MyersCanadian scientist · b. 1952

Questions about Lula’s history

What year was Lula founded?

The Lula post office opened in 1884, 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 (3), the Library of Congress (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.