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History · Shubuta

Shubuta’s post office opened in 1856, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Shubuta was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1856first post office
5on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Shubuta began

When was Shubuta founded?

1856

The Shubuta post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Shoobota (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 754 in 18802020 census: 406170 years
Founding year: the first Shubuta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Shubuta’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 Shubuta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1912, drew every building in Shubuta.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,168 in 1910; 406 people lived here in 2020.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shubuta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shubuta’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
Every building

Shubuta, building by building, 1885–1912

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.

Shubuta fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

People over time

Shubuta, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,168

Peaked at 1,168 in 1910; 406 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Shubuta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shubuta.

Read it all →

Located along the Chickasawhay River, the small town of Shubuta was incorporated in 1865. It had started in the 1830s as a trading post community, located near the Choctaw village of Yowani. During the period of Indian Removal, under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw people ceded most of their lands to the United States. Under the Indian Removal Act, they were given land in exchange in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and most of the people were forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River. Their traditional homelands in the Southeast were sold or made available by lotteries to European Americans for settlement.

Chapters20th-century lynchingsVoter suppression and Great Migration

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Shubuta, 1849 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Shoobota post office opens
  3. 1856Post officeThe Shoobota post office closes
  4. 1856Post officeThe Shubuta post office opens
  5. 1891BuiltShubuta Methodist Episcopal Church, South is built
  6. 1894BuiltShubuta Baptist Church is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1909BuiltShubuta Bridge is built
  9. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 1,168
  10. 1918Born hereAnnibel Jenkins is born here
  11. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1969Born hereRobert Staten is born here
By decade

Shubuta, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Hand House-Shubata MS2022Hand House-Shubata MSShubuta Baptist Church2011Shubuta Baptist ChurchMSMap-doton-Shubuta2007MSMap-doton-Shubuta
On the map

Shubuta on the map, 1964 to 1984

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

Shubuta on the 1964 USGS mapShubuta on the 1984 USGS map1964Shubuta 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 Shubuta.

On the National Register

5 historic places in Shubuta

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Hand House
Shubuta Bridge, built 1909Shubuta Baptist Church, built 1894Hand HousePrice-Patton-Pettis HouseShubuta Methodist Episcopal Church, South, built 1891
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Carpenter Gothic2
Greek Revival2
Queen Anne1
Cottage1
Shubuta BridgeBuilt 1909
Shubuta Baptist ChurchCarpenter Gothic · Built 1894
All 5 listings
Hand HouseBuilding · listed 1980Price-Patton-Pettis HouseBuilding · listed 1980Shubuta Methodist Episcopal Church, SouthBuilding · listed 1994

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Shubuta

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

See all →
A
Annibel JenkinsAmerican scholar · b. 1918
R
Robert StatenAmerican football running back · b. 1969
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Shubuta’s post office has been open since 1856. Another post office, Shoobota, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shoobota
1849–1856
Shubuta
1856–today
18401930today
1cemetery inside Shubuta
Shubuta

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

Questions about Shubuta’s history

What year was Shubuta founded?

The Shubuta post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Shubuta?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Hand House (listed 1980, the first), and 1 structure.

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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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.