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History · Maurice

Maurice’s post office opened in 1882, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Maurice began, and where its name came from

When was Maurice founded?

1882

The Maurice post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 280 in 19002020 census: 265144 years

How did Maurice get its name?

Maurice was named for Maurice, Prince of Orange.

Founding year: the first Maurice post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Maurice’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 Maurice are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Maurice’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Maurice’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maurice’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 Maurice came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maurice.

Read it all →

Maurice was platted in 1882. It was named for Maurice, Prince of Orange. A post office has been in operation in Maurice since 1882.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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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On the map

Maurice on the map, 1962 to 1985

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

Maurice on the 1962 USGS mapMaurice on the 1985 USGS map1962Le Mars 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 Maurice.

People over time

Maurice, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 329

Between 237 and 329 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Maurice’s history

What year was Maurice founded?

The Maurice post office opened in 1882, 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 →
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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, 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.