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History · Taylor

Taylor’s post office opened in 1879, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1880.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Taylor began

When was Taylor founded?

1879

The Taylor post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Taylors Depot (1859), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 85 in 18802020 census: 355147 years
Founding year: the first Taylor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Taylor’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 Taylor are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1920 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Taylor’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Taylor’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
People over time

Taylor, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020209 in 1920Low: 92

Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Taylor, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Taylor yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Taylor is a town in Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 322 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 322 to 355 (+10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Taylor, 1859 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Taylors Depot post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Taylors Depot post office closes
  4. 1879Post officeThe Taylor post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 500
By decade

Taylor, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Taylor Mississippi panorama2018Taylor Mississippi panoramaTaylor Mississippi October 20182018Taylor Mississippi October 2018Dusty scene as a farm truck and equipment gather the remains of the year's crop after a harvest for use as fodder, or s…2017Dusty scene as a farm truck and equipment gather the …Old gas pump outside a general store and adjacent restaurant in tiny Taylor, Mississippi2017Old gas pump outside a general store and adjacent res…Classic, if well-worn, 1955 Chevrolet in a field near Taylor, Mississippi2017Classic, if well-worn, 1955 Chevrolet in a field near…An old general store and adjacent restaurant2017An old general store and adjacent restaurantThe Taylor Grocery and Restaurant, open Thursday through Sunday only (as of 2017) in tiny Taylor, Mississippi2017The Taylor Grocery and Restaurant, open Thursday thro…Part of the eclectic store window at the Taylor General Store2017Part of the eclectic store window at the Taylor Gener…Old general store2017Old general storeLarge, abandoned barn near Taylor, Mississippi2017Large, abandoned barn near Taylor, MississippiThe old railroad depot2016The old railroad depotTaylor mississippi 20072004Taylor mississippi 2007
On the map

Taylor on the map, 1940 to 1980

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

Taylor on the 1940 USGS mapTaylor on the 1980 USGS map1940Oxford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Taylor.

Famous people

Famous people close to Taylor

Nobody well known was born in Taylor itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
KamalaAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1950
Lorenzen WrightAmerican basketball player · b. 1975
S
Shelby McEwenAmerican high jumper · b. 1996
J
Jennifer GillomBasketball player and coach · b. 1964
Arthur GuytonAmerican physiologist · b. 1919
Pepper KeenanAmerican guitarist and vocalist · b. 1967
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Taylor’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Taylors Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Taylors Depot
1859–1879
Taylor
1879–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Taylor High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Taylor’s history

What year was Taylor founded?

The Taylor post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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 Library of Congress (9), 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.