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SandersvilleMississippiPostOfficePhoto: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Sandersville

Sandersville’s post office opened in 1883

Most of Sandersville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1900.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Sandersville began

When was Sandersville founded?

1883

The Sandersville post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 357 in 19002020 census: 636143 years
Founding year: the first Sandersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sandersville’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 Sandersville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 853 in 1990; 636 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sandersville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sandersville’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
People over time

Sandersville, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 853

Peaked at 853 in 1990; 636 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Sandersville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sandersville.

Read it all →

Scottish settlers migrated here during the 1820s and built the Good Hope Presbyterian Church. In 1855, the town was named after the Sanders, a pioneer family.

Home construction was influenced by the Victorian era, as there are a noticeable number of cupolas on buildings in the town.

Hunt Refining Company has a refinery northeast of Sandersville which processes crude oil acquired primarily from local Mississippi fields. The refinery produces distillate feedstock, paving grade asphalt, heavy gas oils, naphtha, and roofing grade asphalt.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sandersville, 1883 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Sandersville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1945Born hereDoug Satcher is born here
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1985Born hereShad White is born here
  7. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 853
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Sandersville on the map, 1964 to 1982

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

Sandersville on the 1964 USGS mapSandersville on the 1982 USGS map1964Sandersville 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 Sandersville.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Sandersville

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

See all →
D
Doug SatcherAmerican football player · b. 1945
S
Shad White42nd Auditor of Mississippi · b. 1985
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Sandersville’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Fergusons Bridgebridge
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sandersville
MaySandersville

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

Questions about Sandersville’s history

What year was Sandersville founded?

The Sandersville post office opened in 1883, 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 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.