Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Thaxton was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1910.
The Thaxton post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Chester (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thaxton’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Thaxton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Thaxton is a town in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Thaxton had a population of 692.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 643 to 692 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings 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 Thaxton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Thaxton.
Grew from 143 people in 1910 to 692 in 2020, 4 times over.
6 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Thaxton’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Thaxton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Thaxton’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Chester, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Thaxton post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
