Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pacific Junction

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Pacific Junction

Pacific Junction’s post office opened in 1871, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pacific Junction’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pacific Junction began

When was Pacific Junction founded?

1871

The Pacific Junction post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 123 in 18802020 census: 96155 years
Founding year: the first Pacific Junction post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Pacific Junction’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 744 in 1890; 96 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Pacific Junction’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pacific Junction’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pacific Junction’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch.…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Pacific Junction, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 744

Peaked at 744 in 1890; 96 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Pacific Junction came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pacific Junction.

Read it all →

Pacific Junction was established by the railroad in 1871 to serve as the western terminus of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, the eastern terminus of the Nebraska Burlington & Missouri River RR, and a station on the Kansas City, Council Bluffs, & Saint Joseph Railroad. All three were consolidated as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, today's BNSF. After several rough and tumble years of growth Pacific Junction was incorporated in 1882. The scene of violence during the Burlington Railroad Strike of 1888, PJ's population peaked during the early 20th century with just over 700 people. Railroad traffic through town remains almost constant although the town's connections to the railroad have declined significantly since 1971. Historic structures include the 1914 Pacific Junction Public School which graduated its last high school class in 1961 and closed for g…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pacific Junction, 1871 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Pacific Junction post office opens
  3. 1885In the archivePacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. (10288.000)
  4. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 744
  5. 20th century
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pacific Junction, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items
Pacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. (10288.000)1885Pacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. (10…Pacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. Received at Lincoln Oct 19, 1892 (10295.000)1885Pacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. Rec…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Junction of Interstate 29 with U.S. 275 and U.S. 342014Junction of Interstate 29 with U.S. 275 and U.S. 34PacificJunctionfromSouth2007PacificJunctionfromSouthPacificJunctioneastonLincoln2007PacificJunctioneastonLincolnIAMap-doton-PacificJunction2004IAMap-doton-PacificJunction
On the map

Pacific Junction on the map, 1956 to 1993

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

Pacific Junction on the 1956 USGS mapPacific Junction on the 1969 USGS mapPacific Junction on the 1975 USGS mapPacific Junction on the 1984 USGS mapPacific Junction on the 1993 USGS map1956Pacific Junction 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 Pacific Junction.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Pacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. (10288.000)
Retake this viewPacific Junction. Scale 50 ft = 1 inch. Jan 1885. (10288.000), 1885

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pacific Junction’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Pacific Junction’s history

What year was Pacific Junction founded?

The Pacific Junction post office opened in 1871, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.