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BHistory
History · Wesson

Wesson’s post office opened in 1867, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1890 on.

1867first post office
6on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wesson’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wesson began

When was Wesson founded?

1867

The Wesson post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,833159 years

How historic is Wesson?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Wesson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Wesson’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wesson is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wesson’s overall grade.
Founding era1867, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.3% of homes (±6.0) · typical MS town 4.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register6 listings, 10 historic buildings, 44.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MS town 71.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
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 Wesson’s 44.4 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Mississippi towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Wesson’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Then and nowOne place photographed years apart. Drag to compare.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wesson’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMississippiMills 2: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Then & now

The same spot, years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

Mississippi Mills Packing and Shipping RoomsMississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms Buildingc. 1920Today
Mississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms BuildingMatched from the two captions
On the National Register

6 historic places in Wesson

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Old Wesson Public School Building
Mississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms, built 1875Old Wesson Public School BuildingDr. William Little HouseJames Samuel Rea HouseDr. Robert W. Rea HouseWesson Presbyterian Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate3
Queen Anne2
Greek Revival2
Commercial1
Gothic Revival1
Mississippi Mills Packing and Shipping RoomsCommercial · Built 1875
All 6 listings
Old Wesson Public School BuildingBuilding · listed 1980Dr. William Little HouseBuilding · listed 1993James Samuel Rea HouseBuilding · listed 1996Dr. Robert W. Rea HouseBuilding · listed 1996Wesson Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 2015

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

The story

How Wesson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wesson.

Read it all →

Settlers began moving to the area in the 1830s, and originally called it Messina.

The town was officially established on March 31, 1864, and renamed after Colonel James Madison Wesson. That year, Col. Wesson established a lumber mill within the town. In 1866, he established the Mississippi Manufacturing Company, a textile mill, within the town. In 1871, he sold the mill to Captain William Oliver and John T. Hardy, who renamed it the Mississippi Mills. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1873, and four new mill buildings were built between 1873 and 1894.

The mills suffered financial difficulties with the death of Captain Oliver in 1891, followed by the economic Panic of 1893. These, among other struggles, lead the mills to close in 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wesson, 1867 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Wesson post office opens
  3. 1875BuiltMississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms is built
  4. 1890In the archiveMississippiMills 2
  5. 1891Born hereLawrence R. Ellzey is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveMississippiMills
  8. 1910Born hereHouston Stackhouse is born here
  9. 1920In the archiveMississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms Building
  10. 1952Born hereBooker Brown is born here
  11. 1997Born hereFarrod Green is born here
By decade

Wesson, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1920s4 items
MississippiMills 2c. 1890MississippiMills 2MississippiMillsc. 1900MississippiMillsMississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms Buildingc. 1920Mississippi Mills Packing and Shipping Rooms BuildingPost Office and Bank ofc. 1920Post Office and Bank of
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
MSMap-doton-Wesson2007MSMap-doton-Wesson
Famous people

5 famous people were born in Wesson

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

See all →
Houston StackhouseAmerican Delta blues guitarist and singer · b. 1910
L
Lawrence R. EllzeyAmerican politician · b. 1891
B
Booker BrownAmerican football player · b. 1952
F
Farrod GreenAmerican football tight end · b. 1997
Luther R. StevensAmerican military officer · b. 1889
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BeauregardIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Wesson’s history

What year was Wesson founded?

The Wesson post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Wesson rank for history?

Wesson is more historic than 60% 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 Wesson?

6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Old Wesson Public School Building (listed 1980, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Wesson?

16% of Wesson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 4.5% for a Mississippi town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.