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C−History
History · Magee

Magee’s post office opened in 1882

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #74 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it

Most of Magee was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1984 on and the census since 1910.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Radiohead band · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Magee began

When was Magee founded?

1882

The Magee post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 685 in 19102020 census: 3,988144 years

How historic is Magee?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Magee’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Magee is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #74 of 100 in Mississippi. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Magee’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.0% of homes (±7.5) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MS town 71.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (100)Ahead of 26%

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 Magee’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Magee’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 Magee are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersJustin Griffith, Kris Mangum and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Magee’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

9 famous people were born in Magee

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

See all →
J
Justin GriffithPlayer of American football · b. 1980
K
Kris MangumAmerican football player · b. 1973
D
Dan Monroe Russell, Jr.United States federal judge · b. 1913
H
Harold ShawAmerican football player · b. 1974
R
Roland DaleAmerican football player and coach, college ath… · b. 1927
J
John MangumAmerican football player · b. 1967
The story

How Magee came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Magee.

Read it all →

The first settlers in the area were Arthur Mangum and Phil Magee, who came into the area around 1820. Pioneers from Virginia and the Carolinas followed. The town of Magee was originally named Mangum, after Arthur Mangum; it kept this name until 1859.

In 1840, Willis Magee built a grist mill on Little Goodwater Creek, inside the present city limits. He started the first and only postal service in the area in 1855.

Robert Solomon Magee was the first post master in Magee and the city of Magee was named after him.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Magee, 1882 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Magee post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913Born hereDan Monroe Russell, Jr. is born here
  5. 1973Born hereKris Mangum is born here
  6. 1974Born hereHarold Shaw is born here
  7. 1980Born hereJustin Griffith is born here
  8. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Magee, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Highway 49 in2014Highway 49 inDowntown Magee,Mississippi Main Street 20132013Downtown Magee,Mississippi Main Street 2013Downtown Magee, Mississippi across railroad tracks March 20132013Downtown Magee, Mississippi across railroad tracks Ma…Downtown Magee, Mississippi March 20132013Downtown Magee, Mississippi March 2013City of Magee water tower2012City of Magee water tower2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
On the map

Magee on the map, 1984 to 1994

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

Magee on the 1984 USGS mapMagee on the 1994 USGS map1984Laurel sheet · 1:100,000

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

People over time

Magee, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,408

Between 685 and 4,408 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Magee’s post office has been open since 1882.

Gone or out of use
Fordlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Magee
GoodwaterMagee

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

Questions about Magee’s history

What year was Magee founded?

The Magee post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Magee rank for history?

Magee is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #74 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.

How old are the homes in Magee?

7% of Magee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1976.

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), 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.