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History · Fifty-Six

Fifty-Six’s post office opened in 1918

Most of Fifty-Six was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1980.

1918first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Fifty-Six began

When was Fifty-Six founded?

1918

The Fifty-Six post office opened in 1918, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fiftysix (1918), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 157 in 19802020 census: 158108 years
Founding year: the first Fifty-Six post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fifty-Six’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 Fifty-Six are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fifty-Six’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fifty-Six’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Fifty-Six came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fifty-Six.

Read it all →

When founding the community in 1918, locals submitted the name "Newcomb" for the settlement. This request was rejected, and the federal government internally named the community for its school district number (156). It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

On March 14, 2025, an EF4 tornado struck the town at EF3 strength, heavily damaging or destroying several cabins at the Cedarwood Cabins, damaging other structures, and uprooting trees.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fifty-Six, 1918 to 1996

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1918Post officeThe Fiftysix post office opens
  3. 1929Born hereLee Hedges is born here
  4. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1996Post officeThe Fiftysix post office closes
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.

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On the map

Fifty-Six on the map, 1972 to 1980

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

Fifty-Six on the 1972 USGS mapFifty-Six on the 1980 USGS map1972Fiftysix sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Fifty-Six, census by census

0100198020002020Peak: 173

Between 156 and 173 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Fiftysix, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fiftysix

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

Questions about Fifty-Six’s history

What year was Fifty-Six founded?

The Fifty-Six post office opened in 1918, 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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.