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Old Huntington JailOld Huntington Jail · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Huntington

Huntington’s post office opened in 1887, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Old Huntington Jail. Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Huntington began

When was Huntington founded?

1887

The Huntington post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1888.

First census: 913 in 18902020 census: 490139 years
Founding year: the first Huntington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1888.The full story ↓

What stands out about Huntington’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 Huntington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18875 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1987. Watch Huntington change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,700 in 1910; 490 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Huntington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Huntington’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
On the map

Huntington on the map, 1887 to 1987

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

Huntington on the 1887 USGS mapHuntington on the 1948 USGS mapHuntington on the 1951 USGS mapHuntington on the 1978 USGS mapHuntington on the 1987 USGS map1887Greenwood 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 Huntington.

People over time

Huntington, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,700

Peaked at 1,700 in 1910; 490 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Huntington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Huntington.

Read it all →

Huntington began as a coal mining town. In 1887, The Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Coal Company surveyed the site and selected it as a townsite because coal was around the site, but not directly beneath it. The town was incorporated on February 4, 1888. The town was named after J. B. Huntington, a well-liked mine superintendent, who died after his horse jumped from a bridge over Cherokee Creek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Huntington, 1887 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Huntington post office opens
  3. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1892Born hereFreda Ameringer is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900Born hereJake Freeze is born here
  7. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 1,700
By decade

Huntington, decade by decade

Today1 recent
ARMap-doton-Huntington2005ARMap-doton-Huntington
Every building

Huntington, building by building, 1913

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 sheet.

Huntington fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Huntington

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
Old Huntington Jail
Old Huntington Jail
Buildings
Old Huntington JailBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Huntington

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

See all →
J
Jake FreezeAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Freda AmeringerSocialist organizer · b. 1892

Questions about Huntington’s history

What year was Huntington founded?

The Huntington post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1888.

What is on the National Register in Huntington?

One place: the Old Huntington Jail (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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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.