Starkville’s post office opened in 1835, and 19 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #25 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Starkville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. 19 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 468 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Starkville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Starkville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Starkville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #25 of 100 in Mississippi. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Starkville’s overall grade.
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 Starkville’s 187 sits above most of its state (74% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 480 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Starkville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Starkville area has been inhabited for over 2,100 years. Artifacts in the form of clay pot fragments and artwork dating from that time period have been found east of Starkville at the Herman Mound and Village site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The village site can be accessed from the Indian Mound Campground. The earthwork mounds were made by early Native Americans of moundbuilder cultures as part of their religious and political cosmology.
Shortly before the American Revolutionary War period, the area was inhabited by the Choccuma (or Chakchiuma) tribe. They were annihilated about that time by a rare alliance between the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Starkville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Starkville 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 Starkville.
Every building
Starkville, building by building, 1885–1918
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.
1885Sheet 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.
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.
Retake this viewBoy on left is Arthur Pugh. Said he made bands (25 cents a day), 1911
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Starkville’s page.
The Starkville post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Starkville rank for history?
Starkville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #25 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 Starkville?
19 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Stone, John M., Cotton Mill (listed 1975, the first), 5 historic districts with 468 contributing buildings, and 2 sites. 480 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Starkville?
4% of Starkville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (19), 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.
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