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CHistory
History · Moorhead

Moorhead’s post office opened in 1890, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Moorhead’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Moorhead began

When was Moorhead founded?

1890

The Moorhead post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 437 in 19002020 census: 1,937136 years

How historic is Moorhead?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Moorhead’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moorhead is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 Moorhead’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±8.0) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−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 31%
NewerOlder

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 Moorhead’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 (±8.0 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 Moorhead’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1907 to 1918, drew every building in Moorhead.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Moorhead’s collection

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

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

Moorhead, building by building, 1907–1918

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Moorhead fire insurance map, 1907, sheet 11907Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Moorhead, in brief

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

Moorhead is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,405. This dropped in 2022 and the population recorded was 1,512.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,405 to 1,937 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Moorhead, 1890 to 1991

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Moorhead post office opens
  3. 1895In the archiveAlmeda Gardner Industrial School
  4. 20th century
  5. 1925Born hereCharley Booker is born here
  6. 1940Born hereJohnny Russell is born here
  7. 1954Born herePhil Bryant is born here
  8. 1984On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1991Born hereToby Johnson is born here
By decade

Moorhead, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Almeda Gardner Industrial School1895Almeda Gardner Industrial School
1900s–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
Today8 recent
Welcome To Moorhead sign 20242024Welcome To Moorhead sign 2024Welcome To Moorhead sign2019Welcome To Moorhead signMS3 North - US82 Sign2018MS3 North - US82 SignMS3 North - Moorhead Sign2018MS3 North - Moorhead SignYellowDogMSBluesTrailMarker2017YellowDogMSBluesTrailMarkerBairdroadsignmoorhead2011BairdroadsignmoorheadWelcome to2009Welcome toJames C. Rosser Elementary School, 22008James C. Rosser Elementary School, 2
On the map

Moorhead on the map, 1984 to 1994

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

Moorhead on the 1984 USGS mapMoorhead on the 1994 USGS map1984Indianola 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 Moorhead.

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.

Almeda Gardner Industrial School
Retake this viewAlmeda Gardner Industrial School, 1895

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Moorhead, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,573

Between 437 and 2,573 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Moorhead

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

See all →
Phil BryantAmerican politician · b. 1954
J
Johnny RussellAmerican country singer, songwriter, and comedi… · b. 1940
C
Charley BookerAmerican musician · b. 1925
T
Toby JohnsonAmerican-football player · b. 1991

Questions about Moorhead’s history

What year was Moorhead founded?

The Moorhead post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Moorhead rank for history?

Moorhead is more historic than 31% 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.

How old are the homes in Moorhead?

13% of Moorhead’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1979.

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 (9), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.