Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mount Olive

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mount Olive

Mount Olive’s post office opened in 1858, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 72 buildings. Below: maps from 1975 on and the census since 1910.

1858first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mount Olive began

When was Mount Olive founded?

1858

The Mount Olive post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Leeke (1903) and Arbo (1905), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,077 in 19102020 census: 895168 years
Founding year: the first Mount Olive post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mount Olive’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 Mount Olive are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Mount Olive Historic District takes in 72 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mount Olive, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Olive’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Olive’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
On the National Register

1 listing protects 72 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
72
each building in a district counts
first listed
2019
Mount Olive Historic District
Mount Olive Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Mount Olive Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Mount Olive’s post office has been open since 1858. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mount Olive
1858–today
Leeke
1903–1905
Arbo
1905–1919
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Arbo
Gone or out of use
Saint Paul Baptist Churchchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Olive
Mount Olive CitySaint Paul

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

The story

How Mount Olive came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Olive.

Read it all →

The town of Mount Olive was incorporated on May 18, 1900, making the town older than Magee to the north and older than Collins to the south. The railroad tracks were completed in 1899. The population of Mount Olive in 2016 was 975.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mount Olive, 1858 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Mount Olive post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Leeke post office opens
  5. 1905Post officeThe Leeke post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Arbo post office opens
  7. 1919Post officeThe Arbo post office closes
  8. 1957Born hereW. Ralph Eubanks is born here
  9. 1968Born hereFred McNair is born here
  10. 1973Born hereSteve McNair is born here
  11. 1975On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1994Born hereHannah Roberts is born here
By decade

Mount Olive, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Wardell Camper of Covington, Mississippi, sells sweet potatoes by the side of the road near Mt. Olive, Mississippi2017Wardell Camper of Covington, Mississippi, sells sweet…Mount Olive High School2017Mount Olive High SchoolMount Olive Elementary2017Mount Olive Elementary
On the map

Mount Olive on the map, 1975 to 1994

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

Mount Olive on the 1975 USGS mapMount Olive on the 1984 USGS mapMount Olive on the 1994 USGS map1975Magee South 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 Mount Olive.

People over time

Mount Olive, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,077

Between 775 and 1,077 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Mount Olive

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

See all →
Steve McNairAmerican football player · b. 1973
F
Fred McNairAmerican football player · b. 1968
W
W. Ralph EubanksWriter and professor · b. 1957
H
Hannah RobertsAmerican beauty pageant titleholder from Mount … · b. 1994
H
Howard EasterlingAmerican baseball player; Negro League baseball… · b. 1911
R
Rose BascomAmerican trick rider · b. 1922

Questions about Mount Olive’s history

What year was Mount Olive founded?

The Mount Olive post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mount Olive?

One place: the Mount Olive Historic District (listed 2019).

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), the Library of Congress (1), 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.