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History · Pope

Pope’s post office opened in 1904

Most of Pope was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1880.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Chillin662 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Pope began

When was Pope founded?

1904

The Pope post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pope Depot (1860), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 181 in 18802020 census: 268122 years
Founding year: the first Pope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pope’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 Pope are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pope’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pope’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
The story so far

Pope, in brief

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

Pope is a village in Panola County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Pope had a population of 268.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 215 to 268 (+25%).

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

Timeline

Pope, 1860 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Pope Depot post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Pope Depot post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Pope post office opens
  6. 1927Born hereCliff Finch is born here
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pope, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Mississippi Highway 720 near2026Mississippi Highway 720 near
On the map

Pope on the map, 1954 to 1983

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

Pope on the 1954 USGS mapPope on the 1983 USGS map1954Oakland 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 Pope.

People over time

Pope, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 278

Between 163 and 278 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Pope’s post office has been open since 1904. Another post office, Pope Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pope Depot
1860–1894
Pope
1904–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Pope’s history

What year was Pope founded?

The Pope post office opened in 1904, 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 (1), 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.