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History · Shuqualak

Shuqualak’s post office opened in 1855, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Shuqualak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 18 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1962 on, and the census since 1880.

1855first post office
2on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Shuqualak’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Shuqualak began

When was Shuqualak founded?

1855

The Shuqualak post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 352 in 18802020 census: 399171 years
Founding year: the first Shuqualak post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Shuqualak’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 810 in 1930; 399 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shuqualak’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shuqualak’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMobile and Ohio Railroad Station: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Shuqualak, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 810

Peaked at 810 in 1930; 399 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Shuqualak came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shuqualak.

Read it all →

Shaqualak was settled after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed in 1830. Shuqualak is a name derived from the Choctaw language purported to mean 'beads'.

A post office was established in 1855, and the town was incorporated in 1859. Shuqualak was a stop on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, built in the 1850s.

There was a devastating fire in 1885 that burned much of downtown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Shuqualak, 1855 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Shuqualak post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveMobile and Ohio Railroad Station
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 810
  6. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Shuqualak, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Stationc. 1900Mobile and Ohio Railroad Station
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Flora House-Shuqualak MS2022Flora House-Shuqualak MSMSMap-doton-Shuqualak2007MSMap-doton-Shuqualak
On the map

Shuqualak on the map, 1962 to 1982

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

Shuqualak on the 1962 USGS mapShuqualak on the 1982 USGS map1962Shuqualak 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 Shuqualak.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mobile and Ohio Railroad Station
Retake this viewMobile and Ohio Railroad Station, c. 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shuqualak’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 19 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
19
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Central Shuqualak Historic District
Central Shuqualak Historic DistrictFlora House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Renaissance Revival1
Commercial1
All 2 listings
Central Shuqualak Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1980Flora HouseBuilding · listed 1982

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

Questions about Shuqualak’s history

What year was Shuqualak founded?

The Shuqualak post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Shuqualak?

Two places: the Central Shuqualak Historic District (listed 1980) and the Flora House (1982).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.