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CHistory
History · Picayune

Picayune’s post office opened in 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #65 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it

Most of Picayune was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Hermitage, The. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1910.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ente75 · Public domain
Quick answers

How Picayune began, and where its name came from

When was Picayune founded?

1891

The Picayune post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 846 in 19102020 census: 11,885135 years

How did Picayune get its name?

Picayune’s name derives from the French "picaillon", which is itself from the Provençal "picaioun", the name of an unrelated small copper coin from Savoy.

How historic is Picayune?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Picayune post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Picayune’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Picayune is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #65 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Picayune’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.2% of homes (±3.2) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 1.7 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (100)Ahead of 35%

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 Picayune’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 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 Picayune’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersCailey Fleming, Jonathan Bender and 10 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Picayune’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

12 famous people were born in Picayune

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

See all →
Cailey FlemingAmerican actress · b. 2007
J
Jonathan BenderAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Freddie LittleAmerican boxer · b. 1936
Rhyne HughesAmerican baseball player · b. 1983
Brandon FortenberryAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
Jerone DavisonAmerican politician and former football player · b. 1970
The story

How Picayune came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Picayune.

Read it all →

The word "picayune" was the name of a Spanish coin, worth half a real or 1/16 of a Spanish dollar (6.25 cents). Its name derives from the French "picaillon", which is itself from the Provençal "picaioun", the name of an unrelated small copper coin from Savoy. By extension, picayune can mean "trivial" or "of little value".

Picayune was incorporated in 1904, and was named by Eliza Jane Poitevent Nicholson in late 1883 or early 1884. She was the owner and publisher of The Daily Picayune, a newspaper named for the coin.

ChaptersHurricane Katrina

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Picayune, 1891 to 2007

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Picayune post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1936Born hereFreddie Little is born here
  5. 1953In the archiveMississippi Gulf Coast New Orleans to Mobile 1953 Map
  6. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1963In the archiveDr.Wernher von Braun Signs Autographs - GPN-2000-000538
  8. 1981Born hereJonathan Bender is born here
  9. 1983Born hereRhyne Hughes is born here
  10. 21st century
  11. 2007Born hereCailey Fleming is born here
By decade

Picayune, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s–1960s2 items
Mississippi Gulf Coast New Orleans to Mobile 1953 Map1953Mississippi Gulf Coast New Orleans to Mobile 1953 MapMapDr.Wernher von Braun Signs Autographs - GPN-2000-0005381963Dr.Wernher von Braun Signs Autographs - GPN-2000-0005…Document
1970s–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
Today16 recent
Burnt Bridge Road - panoramio (1)2011Burnt Bridge Road - panoramio (1)Brentwood2011BrentwoodBrentwood - panoramio (3)2011Brentwood - panoramio (3)Brentwood - panoramio (2)2011Brentwood - panoramio (2)Brentwood - panoramio (1)2011Brentwood - panoramio (1)Beech Street and Jackson Landing Road2011Beech Street and Jackson Landing Road3rd Avenue and Laurel Street20113rd Avenue and Laurel StreetPinecote Pavilion2010Pinecote PavilionCrosby-arboretum-pondside-iris2010Crosby-arboretum-pondside-irisRosa Street in2008Rosa Street inMain Street in2008Main Street inLakeshore Drive and Hwy 112008Lakeshore Drive and Hwy 11Jarrell Street2008Jarrell StreetHwy11and4thStreet2008Hwy11and4thStreetHwy 43 In2008Hwy 43 InMSMap-doton-Picayune2007MSMap-doton-Picayune
On the map

Picayune on the map, 1958 to 1997

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

Picayune on the 1958 USGS mapPicayune on the 1985 USGS mapPicayune on the 1997 USGS map1958Picayune 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 Picayune.

Every building

Picayune, building by building, 1929

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 sheet.

Picayune fire insurance map, 1929, sheet 11929Sheet 1 of 11
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Picayune

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2016
Hermitage, The
Hermitage, The
Buildings
All 1 listings
Hermitage, TheBuilding · listed 2016

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

People over time

Picayune, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00019201940196019802000202011,885

Grew from 846 people in 1910 to 11,885 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Picayune’s post office has been open since 1891.

Gone or out of use
Kimballs Storelocale
1cemetery inside Picayune
Thigpen

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

NicholsonIts storyDHide-A-Way LakeIts storyD−

Questions about Picayune’s history

What year was Picayune founded?

The Picayune post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Picayune rank for history?

Picayune is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #65 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.

What is on the National Register in Picayune?

One place: the Hermitage, The (listed 2016).

How old are the homes in Picayune?

5% of Picayune’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (18), 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), 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.