Most of Lumberton was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the U.S. Post Office. Its Register listing is the U.S. Post Office. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Lumberton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lumberton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lumberton is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lumberton’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 Lumberton’s 7.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 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 Lumberton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,374 in 1930; 1,617 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lumberton’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Lumberton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lumberton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lumberton is a city in Lamar and Pearl River counties, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Lumberton had a population of 1,617.
Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,086 to 1,617 (-22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Lumberton, 1887 to 1997
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lumberton.
Every building
Lumberton, building by building, 1906–1912
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lumberton’s history
What year was Lumberton founded?
The Lumberton post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lumberton rank for history?
Lumberton is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. 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 Lumberton?
One place: the U.S. Post Office (listed 1981).
How old are the homes in Lumberton?
7% of Lumberton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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