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History · Smithville

Smithville’s post office opened in 1846

Most of Smithville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972.

1846first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Smithville began

When was Smithville founded?

1846

The Smithville post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 509180 years
Founding year: the first Smithville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Smithville’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 Smithville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Smithville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smithville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Smithville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Smithville.

Read it all →

Smithville is located on lands purchased from Chickasaw chief Che-lah-cha-chubby in 1836. The town is named for William Smith, an early settler who established a store at the site around 1840. The town was incorporated in 1845.

Chapters2011 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Smithville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
SmithvilleEFdamage20112011SmithvilleEFdamage2011Smithville, MS post office damage2011Smithville, MS post office damageSmithville tornado CCTV2011Smithville tornado CCTVOutbreak smithvilleEF5 32011Outbreak smithvilleEF5 3Defense.gov News Photo 110429-A-9999S-907 - U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Dwight D. Brown carries supplies to help citizens of Smi…2011Defense.gov News Photo 110429-A-9999S-907 - U.S. Army…2011 Smithville, Mississippi EF5 tornado at peak intensity20112011 Smithville, Mississippi EF5 tornado at peak inte…

Questions about Smithville’s history

What year was Smithville founded?

The Smithville post office opened in 1846, 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 →
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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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.