The Vardaman post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Timberville (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,110114 years
How historic is Vardaman?
C−
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Vardaman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Vardaman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vardaman is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vardaman’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 Vardaman’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 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 Vardaman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town is named after James Kimble Vardaman, Mississippi governor from 1904 to 1908. Vardaman was a Democrat and white supremacist who later became a member of the United States Senate.
In the early days of the town, its post office was named "Timberville" while the town was still known as "Vardaman," leading to confusion in various letterheads. Postmaster Henry Clay Payne refused to name a post office after James K. Vardaman, who had attacked Theodore Roosevelt in newspaper editorials published in the Greenwood Commonwealth.
The town's post office was officially named "Vardaman" in 1912.
Vardaman’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, Timberville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Timberville
1904–1912
Vardaman
1912–today
19001960today
1cemetery inside Vardaman
Vardaman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Vardaman’s history
What year was Vardaman founded?
The Vardaman post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Vardaman rank for history?
Vardaman is more historic than 16% 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.
How old are the homes in Vardaman?
10% of Vardaman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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