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History · Vaiden

Vaiden dates to 1857, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1880.

1857founded

0on the National Register

10%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Vaiden’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Vaiden began

When was Vaiden founded?

1857

Vaiden dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 526 in 18802020 census: 907169 years

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓

What stands out about Vaiden’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1889 to 1910, drew every building in Vaiden.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vaiden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vaiden’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewDr. C. M. Vaiden House: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Every building

Vaiden, building by building, 1889–1910

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.

Vaiden fire insurance map, 1889, sheet 1

1889Sheet 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.

The story

How Vaiden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vaiden.

Read it all →

Vaiden was founded circa 1857 and named after Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden (April 21, 1812 - February 6, 1880), a local doctor, planter and philanthropist. In the late 1850s, Dr. Vaiden gave the right-of-way through his land for construction of the last span of the Central Railroad, in order to connect the state capital, Jackson, with Memphis, Tennessee. At about the railroad's completion in 1857, the population that had settled at the former Choctaw Indian town of Shongalo was moved to the east, to allow for better access to the railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vaiden, 1837 to 1966

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

19th century
1837Post officeThe Shongalo post office opens
1857
FoundingVaiden is established
1859Post officeThe Shongalo post office closes
1859Post officeThe Vaiden post office opens
20th century
1959Born hereWalter Holman is born here
1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Vaiden, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Date?Dr. C. M. Vaiden House

Today2 recent

2006Vaiden Cemetery

2006Dr. Cowles Mead

On the map

Vaiden on the map, 1966 to 1984

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

1966Vaiden 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 Vaiden.

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 viewDr. C. M. Vaiden House

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Vaiden’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Vaiden, census by census

Between 474 and 924 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Vaiden’s post office has been open since 1859. Another post office, Shongalo, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shongalo

1837–1859

Vaiden

1859–today

18301930today

Gone or out of use

Shongalolocale

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vaiden

ShongolaVaiden

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

Questions about Vaiden’s history

What year was Vaiden founded?

In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Vaiden’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1880 counted 526 people here.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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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