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History · Keo

Keo’s post office opened in 1889, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Keo was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 22 buildings. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1910.

1889first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Keo began

When was Keo founded?

1889

The Keo post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cobbs (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 175 in 19102020 census: 207137 years
Founding year: the first Keo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Keo’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 Keo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 325 in 1920; 207 people lived here in 2020.A historic districtThe Keo Commercial Historic District takes in 22 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keo’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

Keo, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 325

Peaked at 325 in 1920; 207 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

On the National Register

1 listing protects 22 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
22
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Keo Commercial Historic District
Keo Commercial Historic District
Districts
Keo Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict

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

The story

How Keo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keo.

Read it all →

Keo had its start as a shipping station when the railroad was extended to that point.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keo, 1880 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Cobbs post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Keo post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1916Post officeThe Cobbs post office closes
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 325
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Keo on the map, 1939 to 1987

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

Keo on the 1939 USGS mapKeo on the 1941 USGS mapKeo on the 1954 USGS mapKeo on the 1970 USGS mapKeo on the 1987 USGS map1939Keo 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 Keo.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Keo’s post office has been open since 1889. Another post office, Cobbs, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cobbs
1880–1916
Keo
1889–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cobbs
1cemetery inside Keo
Keo

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

Questions about Keo’s history

What year was Keo founded?

The Keo post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Keo?

One place: the Keo Commercial Historic District (listed 2011).

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 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) 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.