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History · Metcalfe

Metcalfe’s post office opened in 1915

Most of Metcalfe was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1980.

1915first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Metcalfe began

When was Metcalfe founded?

1915

The Metcalfe post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wilczinski (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 952 in 19802020 census: 816111 years
Founding year: the first Metcalfe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Metcalfe’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 Metcalfe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,109 in 2000; 816 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Metcalfe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Metcalfe’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
People over time

Metcalfe, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200198020002020Peak: 1,109

Peaked at 1,109 in 2000; 816 people lived here in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

The story so far

Metcalfe, in brief

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

Metcalfe is a town in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Metcalfe had a population of 816. The county is located on the western border of the state, with the Mississippi River on the west. It is within the Mississippi Delta.

Its first post office opened in 1915. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,067 to 816 (-24%).

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

Timeline

Metcalfe, 1886 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Wilczinski post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Post officeThe Wilczinski post office closes
  5. 1915Post officeThe Metcalfe post office opens
  6. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,109
By decade

Metcalfe, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Metcalfe Mississippi Water Tower2026Metcalfe Mississippi Water TowerMetcalfe Mississippi Water Tower 22026Metcalfe Mississippi Water Tower 2
On the map

Metcalfe on the map in 1970

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Metcalfe.

Metcalfe on the 1970 USGS map1970Greenville sheet · 1:24,000

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Metcalfe’s post office has been open since 1915. Another post office, Wilczinski, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wilczinski
1886–1915
Metcalfe
1915–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Metcalfe’s history

What year was Metcalfe founded?

The Metcalfe post office opened in 1915, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.