Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Mantachie was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1910.
The Mantachie post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mantachie is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Mantachie’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mantachie’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mantachie.
The town began as a crossroads store owned and operated by Woods Pearce. Near Mantachie on the old Jacinto Road was the largest Chickasaw village in this section of the state. Mantachie was named for one of the Chickasaw chiefs, Man-ta-chee. Most of the Chickasaws left the village after the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was signed in 1832.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Mississippi - Itawamba County - ED 29-1, …
Born hereGeorge Poteet is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mantachie. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mantachie.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mantachie’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 161 and 1,144 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mantachie’s Wikipedia page.
Mantachie had its own post office from 1880 to 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Mantachie post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mantachie is more historic than 10% 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.
0.0% of Mantachie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1986.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), 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.
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