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History · Boykins

Boykins’ post office opened in 1883, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Beaton-Powell House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Boykins’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Boykins began

When was Boykins founded?

1883

The Boykins post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Boykins Depot (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 173 in 18902020 census: 516143 years
Founding year: the first Boykins post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Boykins’ 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 811 in 1950; 516 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19204 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1997. Watch Boykins change.Old housesHalf of Boykins’ homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Boykins’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Boykins’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.+2Retake an old viewMartha Channell House, State Route 35: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Boykins, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 811

Peaked at 811 in 1950; 516 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

On the map

Boykins on the map, 1920 to 1997

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

Boykins on the 1920 USGS mapBoykins on the 1966 USGS mapBoykins on the 1979 USGS mapBoykins on the 1997 USGS map1920Boykins sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Boykins.

The story

How Boykins came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Boykins.

Read it all →

John Boykin acquired a tract to the south of what became the town on the road to Severn, North Carolina, which lay partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina. In 1829 Boykin and his wife sold the land and moved to Alabama. In 1835, Edward Beaton, one of three brothers who were living in Isle of Wight County near the Blackwater River, came to Southampton County and acquired the tract of land that is now known as Boykins from Francis Rochelle. Beaton, who was a continuous resident of Boykins until his death in 1880, is given credit for the founding of the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Boykins, 1836 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Boykins Depot post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Boykins Depot post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Boykins post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 811
By decade

Boykins, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Martha Channell House, State Route 35Date?Martha Channell House, State Route 35
Today4 recent
South from the railroad, Main Street in2017South from the railroad, Main Street inBoykins Masonic building2017Boykins Masonic buildingBoykins Baptist Church2017Boykins Baptist ChurchVAMap-doton-Boykins2005VAMap-doton-Boykins
Every building

Boykins, building by building, 1921–1930

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.

Boykins fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Martha Channell House, State Route 35
Retake this viewMartha Channell House, State Route 35

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Boykins

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Beaton-Powell House
Beaton-Powell House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Italianate1
Beaton-Powell HouseGreek Revival

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Boykins

Nobody well known was born in Boykins itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
E
Ella MitchellAmerican actress · b. 1937
Richard HudsonAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1971
John Y. MasonAmerican politician · b. 1799
Chuck BrownAmerican guitarist, bandleader and singer · b. 1936
Bryant StithAmerican basketball player · b. 1970
Colgate DardenAmerican congressman and governor of Virginia · b. 1897
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Boykins’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Boykins Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Boykins Depot
1836–1883
Boykins
1883–today
18301930today

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

Questions about Boykins’ history

What year was Boykins founded?

The Boykins post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Boykins?

One place: the Beaton-Powell House (listed 2008).

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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.