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PetersvillePhoto: Andrew Otto · CC BY-SA 2.0
–Not graded
History · Petersville

Petersville’s post office opened in 1936

Most of Petersville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 2000.

1936first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Otto · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Petersville began

When was Petersville founded?

1936

The Petersville post office opened in 1936, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 27 in 20002020 census: 2790 years
Founding year: the first Petersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Petersville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Petersville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 2000 and 2010, then grew 6-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Petersville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Petersville, census by census

02000202027 in 2000Low: 4

Lost two-thirds of its people between 2000 and 2010, then grew 6-fold.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

The story so far

Petersville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Petersville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Petersville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Area. The population was 27 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1936. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4 to 27 (+575%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Petersville, 1936 to 2000

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1936Post officeThe Petersville post office opens
  3. 1939Post officeThe Petersville post office closes
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 27
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Petersville on the map in 1954

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Petersville.

Petersville on the 1954 USGS map1954Talkeetna B-2 sheet · 1:63,360

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Petersville had its own post office from 1936 to 1939.

Petersville
1936–1939
19301980today
Gone or out of use
Petersville AirportairportPetersville Post Officepost office

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Petersville’s history

What year was Petersville founded?

The Petersville post office opened in 1936, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.