A history of Sunflower,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Sunflower from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusSunflower is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Sunflower had a population of 964.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,159 to 964 (-17%). Half of its homes were built before 1983.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sunflower yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Sunflower’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewSmith School, a little country sc…, 1930: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Sunflower, decade by decade
LOCSmith School, a little country school near Sunflower, Missi…1930
LOC"Gang" cultivating plow being repaired at Sunflower plantat…1936
LOC"Double shovel" cultivator being repaired at Sunflower plan…1936
LOCPlantation headquarters. Sunflower plantation, just optione…1936
LOCBlacksmith shop at Sunflower plantation now under option by…1936
LOCMule shed at Sunflower plantation, now under option by Rese…19361990s
Nothing in Sunflower is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Sunflower has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Indianola Historic District in Indianola, 9.1 miles away.
Sunflower and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Smith School, a little country school near Sunflower, Mississippi. Teachers giving out grapefruit from Lake Wales, Flor… (1930) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.