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History · Sunshine

Sunshine’s post office opened in 1875

Most of Sunshine was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: maps from 1902 on.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Sunshine began

When was Sunshine founded?

1875

The Sunshine post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 198151 years
Founding year: the first Sunshine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sunshine’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 Sunshine are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19024 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1971. Watch Sunshine change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sunshine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sunshine’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

Sunshine on the map, 1902 to 1971

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

Sunshine on the 1902 USGS mapSunshine on the 1957 USGS mapSunshine on the 1966 USGS mapSunshine on the 1971 USGS map1902Boulder 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 Sunshine.

The story

How Sunshine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sunshine.

Read it all →

Gold ore was discovered in Sunshine in 1873, and many prospectors moved to the area to seek their fortunes. By 1876 Sunshine was a booming mining camp, with a population of 1,200. Sunshine had a post office, a schoolhouse, a newspaper, The Sunshine Courier, several hotels and boarding houses, two mercantile firms, three blacksmiths, and two saloons.

Sunshine built a stone schoolhouse in 1900, which is still in good condition and used for community events. Noted for its sophisticated construction and neoclassical design, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sunshine, 1875 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Sunshine post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1913Post officeThe Sunshine 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Sunshine

Nobody well known was born in Sunshine itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Edward Lawrie TatumUS genetics scientist · b. 1909
K
Kristin DavisAmerican actress · b. 1965
Scott CarpenterAmerican test pilot, astronaut and aquanaut · b. 1925
J
John Carroll LynchAmerican character actor and film director · b. 1963
Emma CoburnAmerican steeplechaser · b. 1990
Jack D. FischerAmerican astronaut · b. 1974
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Sunshine had its own post office from 1875 to 1913.

Sunshine
1875–1913
18701950today
Gone or out of use
American MinemineArcher MinemineBelle of Memphis MinemineGillespie and Big John MinemineGood Hope MinemineGrand View MinemineInterocean MinemineNew York Union MinemineOsceola MineminePlain View MineminePlough Boy MinemineRichard MinemineWashburn MinemineWhite Crow MinemineWhite Eagle MinemineWoodchuck Minemine
1cemetery inside Sunshine
Sunshine

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.

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

Questions about Sunshine’s history

What year was Sunshine founded?

The Sunshine post office opened in 1875, 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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.