The Walls post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 2003. Two smaller post offices, Glover (1885) and Alpika (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,351119 years
How historic is Walls?
D−
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Walls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2003.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Walls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Walls is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Walls’ 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 Walls’ 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 still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2003.
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 Walls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A relatively young community, Walls was originally named "Alpika," a Chickasaw word. The name was changed to Walls in 1906.
Walls was named after Captain June Walls, who served in the Civil War. Captain Walls was an early settler and merchant of the region in the 1880s.
A Mississippian culture village site near Walls, the Walls Site, gives its name to the Walls phase, the last prehistoric cultural expression before European contact. The historic trail of Hernando de Soto leads through DeSoto County to near Walls.
The Walls post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2003.
How does Walls rank for history?
Walls is more historic than 3% 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 Walls?
0.6% of Walls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 (6), 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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