Most of Marks was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1961. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 63 buildings. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1910.
The Marks post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907. Another post office, Riverside (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 670 in 19102020 census: 1,444143 years
How historic is Marks?
B
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Marks post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marks’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marks is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marks’ 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 Marks’ 458 sits above most of its state (88% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 63 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% 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 (±3.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1907.
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 Marks’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Marks was named after Leopold Marks (1851–1910) who left Germany to avoid conscription by the German army. He arrived in New York in 1868. Marks, a Jew, became Quitman County's first representative to the state legislature and served for eight years. He encouraged the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad to come to the area by giving the railroad company, without cost, the right-of-way through his plantation plus 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land. Leopold Marks' son Henry donated land to the town to be used as a cemetery.
The official "founding" of the town is considered to be May 12, 1907; on May 12, 2007, the town celebrated its centennial.
Marks’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Riverside, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Marks
1883–today
Riverside
1891–1903
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Marks’ history
What year was Marks founded?
The Marks post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.
How does Marks rank for history?
Marks is more historic than 60% 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 Marks?
One place: the Marks Downtown Historic District (listed 2024).
How old are the homes in Marks?
9% of Marks’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2012
2012
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2005
