Tupelo’s post office opened in 1860, and 20 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #51 of 100 in Mississippi. What drives it
Most of Tupelo was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 20 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 576 buildings between them. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.
The Tupelo post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Harrisburg (1860), Leighton (1888) and Bissell (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 618 in 18702020 census: 37,923166 years
How historic is Tupelo?
B−
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tupelo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tupelo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tupelo is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Tupelo’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 Tupelo’s 156 sits above most of its state (72% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 588 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 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 Tupelo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Beech Springs SchoolschoolClark SchoolschoolClayton SchoolschoolHarrisburglocaleNew Life SchoolschoolOld Townlocale
14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tupelo
AllensBeech SpringsBeldenChestervilleClanton-Price FamilyGlenwoodMaxeyPhilipsPricevilleRains-Creely FamilySpringhillStevensons ChapelTupelo Memorial GardensTupelo Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Indigenous peoples, including the Chickasaw and Choctaw, occupied the area prior to European settlement. The French and British traded with these indigenous peoples and tried to form alliances with them. The French established towns in Mississippi mostly on the Gulf Coast. At times, the European powers came into armed conflict. On May 26, 1736, the Battle of Ackia was fought near the site of present-day Tupelo; British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia. The French, under Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, governor of French Louisiana, had sought to link Louisiana with Acadia and the other northern colonies of New France.
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 Tupelo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1973Tupelo 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 Tupelo.
Every building
Tupelo, building by building, 1889–1924
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.
The Tupelo post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tupelo rank for history?
Tupelo is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Tupelo?
20 listings: 12 buildings, 7 historic districts with 576 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 588 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Tupelo?
5% of Tupelo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (20), 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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