Most of Rosedale was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 84 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rosedale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rosedale is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rosedale’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 Rosedale’s 546 sits above most of its state (90% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 93 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). Two sources give 1838.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Rosedale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Rosedale was settled around 1838 and became one of the two county seats in 1872. This area was developed by European American planters for extensive cotton plantations, dependent on enslaved laborers. After the Civil War and emancipation, some freedmen managed to clear and buy land in the bottomlands, with many becoming landowners before the end of the nineteenth century. By 1910, a lengthy recession and declining economic and political conditions resulted in most blacks in the state losing their land. They could not compete with the financing gained by railroads, which were constructed in the area beginning in 1882 Many stayed in the area to work as sharecroppers and laborers. The railroad brought new business to Rosedale, which had a depot and shipped cotton to northern and other markets. Rosedale incorporated as a town February 2, 1882 and became a city in 1930.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rosedale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Big Island 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 Rosedale.
Every building
Rosedale, building by building, 1904–1918
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.
Rosedale had its own post office from 1857 to 1871. Another post office, Floreyville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Rosedale
1857–1871
Floreyville
1872–1877
Rosedale
1877–today
18501940today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rosedale
Anns TabernaclePleasant Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Rosedale’s history
What year was Rosedale founded?
In 1838, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rosedale’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1890 counted 376 people here.
How does Rosedale rank for history?
Rosedale is more historic than 82% 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.
What is on the National Register in Rosedale?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Grace Episcopal Church (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Rosedale Historic District, with 84 contributing buildings. 93 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Rosedale?
9% of Rosedale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
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