Founding year: the first Nicholson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Nicholson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nicholson is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #81 of 100 in Mississippi. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nicholson’s 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 Nicholson’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Nicholson’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nicholson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Nicholson 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 Nicholson.
The story so far
Nicholson, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Nicholson yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Nicholson is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Pearl River County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,833. Its ZIP code is 39463.
Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,092 to 2,833 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Nicholson post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Nicholson rank for history?
Nicholson is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #81 of 100 in Mississippi. 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 Nicholson?
0.9% of Nicholson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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