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History · Sherman

Sherman’s post office opened in 1887, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Sherman began

When was Sherman founded?

1887

The Sherman post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 79 in 18902020 census: 600139 years
Founding year: the first Sherman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Sherman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sherman’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

How Sherman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sherman.

Read it all →

In 1840 Reuben Jones and John Witt settled what is now the Sherman community fourteen miles northeast of Pontotoc, however the town owes its formation and growth to the building of the old Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad. When the operation of trains was begun on the newly built railroad in 1886 a station was established and named Sherman by a resident who had formerly lived in Sherman, Texas. R.P. Kelly built the first home in the spring of 1886. Other citizens and businessmen of the town were John Witt, J.E. Wade, and John Johnson.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sherman, 1885 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Born hereDode Criss is born here
  3. 1887Post officeThe Sherman post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sherman, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Sherman-welcome-sign-ms2018Sherman-welcome-sign-msSherman-RR-tracks-ms2018Sherman-RR-tracks-msSherman-Public-Library-ms2018Sherman-Public-Library-msSherman-Main-ms2018Sherman-Main-msMSMap-doton-Sherman2007MSMap-doton-Sherman
On the map

Sherman on the map, 1955 to 1980

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

Sherman on the 1955 USGS mapSherman on the 1980 USGS map1955Sherman 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 Sherman.

People over time

Sherman, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 650

Between 79 and 650 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Sherman’s post office has been open since 1887.

Gone or out of use
Sherman Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Sherman
Sherman

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

Questions about Sherman’s history

What year was Sherman founded?

The Sherman post office opened in 1887, 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 (5), 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.