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DHistory
History · Southaven

Southaven’s post office opened in 1962, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #86 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it

Most of Southaven was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Its Register listing is the Cook-Sellers House. Below: maps from 1982 on and the census since 1970.

1962first post office
1on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Trevor Birchett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Southaven began

When was Southaven founded?

1962

The Southaven post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1980. Two smaller post offices, Plum Point (1873) and Jago (1901), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 8,931 in 19702020 census: 54,64864 years

How historic is Southaven?

D

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Southaven post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1980.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Southaven’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southaven is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #86 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Southaven’s overall grade.
Founding era1962, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.9% of homes (±0.8) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 10%
NewerOlder
Mississippi towns of 2,500+ (100)Ahead of 14%

Mississippi towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Mississippi town has 71.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Southaven’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1980 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Southaven’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 Southaven are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Southaven, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Southaven’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Southaven’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Southaven’s post office has been open since 1962. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Plum Point
1873–1932
Jago
1901–1932
Southaven
1962–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BarnesvilleDe Soto VillageJagoPlum Point
Gone or out of use
Prospect Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Southaven
Avery ChapelNew HopePhoenixShiloh

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

The story

How Southaven came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Southaven.

Read it all →

Southaven began as a village when Memphis homebuilder Kemmons Wilson (founder of Holiday Inn) wished to develop a few residential subdivisions featuring small starter homes just across the Mississippi border from what was then Whitehaven, Tennessee, an unincorporated area just a few miles south of the Memphis city limits. Memphis eventually annexed Whitehaven in the 1970s. Officially incorporated in 1980, Southaven is one of the fastest-growing cities in the southeastern United States. In just 20 years, Southaven doubled its land area, while its population tripled.

ChaptersData center pollution

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Southaven, 1855 to 2002

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855BuiltCook-Sellers House is built
  3. 1873Post officeThe Plum Point post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Jago post office opens
  6. 1932Post officeThe Plum Point post office closes
  7. 1932Post officeThe Jago post office closes
  8. 1962Post officeThe Southaven post office opens
  9. 1982On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1997Born hereTerence Davis is born here
  11. 1997Born hereReagan Rust is born here
  12. 21st century
  13. 2002Born hereBlaze Jordan is born here
By decade

Southaven, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Snowden Grove Park sign2015Snowden Grove Park signLake Goodman Rd Southaven MS 2013-07-13 0042013Lake Goodman Rd Southaven MS 2013-07-13 004Int55nsInt69nsSigns-StateLineRoad2012Int55nsInt69nsSigns-StateLineRoadSouthaven MS 07 Watertower Starlanding Rd2010Southaven MS 07 Watertower Starlanding RdSouthaven MS 03 Nail Rd at Getwell Rd2010Southaven MS 03 Nail Rd at Getwell RdSouthaven MS 02 Nail Rd at Getwell Rd2010Southaven MS 02 Nail Rd at Getwell Rd
On the map

Southaven on the map in 1982

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Southaven.

Southaven on the 1982 USGS map1982Horn Lake 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 Southaven.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Southaven

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Cook-Sellers House
Cook-Sellers House, built 1855
Buildings
All 1 listings
Cook-Sellers HouseBuilding · listed 1980

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

People over time

Southaven, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00019802000202054,648

Grew from 8,931 people in 1970 to 54,648 in 2020, 6 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Southaven

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

See all →
Terence DavisAmerican basketball player · b. 1997
B
Blaze JordanAmerican baseball player · b. 2002
Reagan RustAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1997
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Horn Lake1 historic placeCOlive Branch2 historic placesC+Hernando10 historic placesBBridgetownIts storyD−

Questions about Southaven’s history

What year was Southaven founded?

The Southaven post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1980.

How does Southaven rank for history?

Southaven is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #86 of 100 in Mississippi. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Southaven?

One place: the Cook-Sellers House (listed 1980).

How old are the homes in Southaven?

0.9% of Southaven’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1998.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.