History · Union

Union’s post office opened in 1837, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Boler's Inn. Below: old-book passages.

1837first post office

1on the National Register

11%homes built before 1940

3famous people

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Quick answers

How Union began

When was Union founded?

1837

The Union post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,042189 years

How historic is Union?

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Union post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Union’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Union’s overall grade.

Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194010.6% of homes (±4.3) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register1 listing, 4.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%

NewerOlder

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 Union’s 4.8 sits near the middle of its state (48% 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 B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). 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 Union’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 Union are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Union.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union’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

Timeline

Union, 1835 to 1966

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

19th century
1835BuiltBoler's Inn is built
1837Post officeThe Union post office opens
20th century
1911Born hereWilliam Redd is born here
1948Born hereBilly Nicholson is born here
1966Born hereTrent Kelly is born here

The story

How Union came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Union.

Read it all →

In February 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman crossed Newton County, burning the county seat at Decatur and was nearly captured during the Meridian Campaign. Sherman stopped during the return trip from Meridian and slept at Boler's Inn in Union. Sherman reportedly ordered the town not to be burned because the Union was what his men were fighting to save, and instead made the town a temporary headquarters.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Union in 1865

Passages that mention Union, cut from the printed page as they were published.

•wholly unknown, until the explorations of Fremont, between the years 1842 and 1848. That region had formerly been penetrated only by fur traders and trappers. The Mexican war of 1846-'48, gave to the Union an immense tract of country, the large original provinces of Upper California and New Mexico… — **The loyal West in the times of the rebellion [electronic resource] also, before and since**1865 · page 31Read the page →
Read the text
•wholly unknown, until the explorations of Fremont, between the years 1842 and 1848. That region had formerly been penetrated only by fur traders and trappers. The Mexican war of 1846-'48, gave to the Union an immense tract of country, the large original provinces of Upper California and New Mexico. The discovery of gold in Upper California in 1848, at once directed emigration to that part of the continent. From that period settlements were rapid and territories formed in quick succession. In 1848, the Mormons, ex
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Union, decade by decade

Today5 recent

2024Structure Fire in Union, Mississippi 01

2024Plaque at Union Public Library

2024Boler’s Inn historical marker 1

2022Boler's Inn-Union MS

2007MSMap-doton-Union

On the National Register

1 historic place in Union

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1999

Boler's Inn

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1

Boler's InnGreek Revival · Built 1835

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Union

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

See all →

Trent KellyAmerican politician · b. 1966

Billy NicholsonAmerican politician · b. 1948

William ReddAmerican businessperson · b. 1911

Questions about Union’s history

What year was Union founded?

The Union post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Union rank for history?

Union is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. 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 Union?

One place: the Boler's Inn (listed 1999).

How old are the homes in Union?

11% of Union’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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