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History · Merigold

Merigold’s post office opened in 1886, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 21 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1910.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
21old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Merigold’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Merigold began

When was Merigold founded?

1886

The Merigold post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 241 in 19102020 census: 379140 years
Founding year: the first Merigold post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Merigold’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos21 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 804 in 1930; 379 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · By decade

Merigold, decade by decade

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

1930s21 items
Store1939StoreClothing store1939Clothing storeUntitled photo, possibly related to: Store1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: StoreUntitled photo, possibly related to: Clothing store1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Clothing storeNegroes in front of doctor's office1939Negroes in front of doctor's officeHome of share-cropper living near Merigold, Mississippi. Background photo, Sunflower Plantation1939Home of share-cropper living near Merigold, Mississip…Weighing up cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration), project1939Weighing up cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm…Farmer picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project1939Farmer picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (F…Mules belonging to farmer on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project1939Mules belonging to farmer on Sunflower Plantation, FS…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negroes in front of doctor's office1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Negroes in front…Corner of kitchen of tenant farmer living1939Corner of kitchen of tenant farmer livingDecorations above mantelpiece in farm home near Merigold, Mississippi. Background photo for Sunflower Plantation1939Decorations above mantelpiece in farm home near Merig…Farmer and son picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project1939Farmer and son picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation…Negroes returning home after cotton picking, Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project1939Negroes returning home after cotton picking, Sunflowe…Farmer on FSA (Farm Security Administration) project, Sunflower Plantation1939Farmer on FSA (Farm Security Administration) project,…Goods piled in corner of living room of sharecropper near Merigold, Mississippi. Background photo, Sunflower Plantation1939Goods piled in corner of living room of sharecropper …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Weighing up cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration), pr…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Weighing up cott…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer picking cotton on Sunflower Plantation, FSA (Farm Security Administration) …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer picking c…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (Farm Security Administration) project, Sunflower Plantation1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (F…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (Farm Security Administration) project, Sunflower Plantation1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (F…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (Farm Security Administration) project, Sunflower Plantation1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer on FSA (F…
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
People over time

Merigold, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 804

Peaked at 804 in 1930; 379 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Merigold, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Merigold yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Merigold (sometimes misspelled as Marigold or Merrigold) is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 379.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 439 to 379 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Merigold, 1886 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Merigold post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1925Born hereCharles Capps is born here
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 804
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1939In the archiveStore
On the map

Merigold on the map, 1935 to 1966

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

Merigold on the 1935 USGS mapMerigold on the 1966 USGS map1935Mound Bayou sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Store
Retake this viewStore, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Merigold’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStore: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Merigold’s history

What year was Merigold founded?

The Merigold post office opened in 1886, 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 the Library of Congress (21), 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.