Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Humboldt

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 · Humboldt

Humboldt dates to 1878, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1880.

1878founded
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Humboldt began

When was Humboldt founded?

1878

Humboldt dates its founding to 1878 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 237 in 18802020 census: 361148 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1858.The full story ↓

What stands out about Humboldt’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 Humboldt are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 499 in 1980; 361 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Humboldt.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Humboldt’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Humboldt’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

Humboldt, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 499

Peaked at 499 in 1980; 361 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Humboldt’s post office has been open since 1892. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Milton Station
1858–1875
Humbolt
1875–1892
Humboldt
1892–today
18501940today

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

The story

How Humboldt came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Humboldt.

Read it all →

The village was incorporated on April 16, 1878. The village was named after Alexander von Humboldt, a German natural scientist.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Humboldt, 1858 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Milton Station post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Milton Station post office closes
  4. 1875Post officeThe Humbolt post office opens
  5. 1878
    FoundingHumboldt is established
  6. 1892Post officeThe Humbolt post office closes
  7. 1892Post officeThe Humboldt post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 499
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

Humboldt on the map, 1935 to 1998

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

Humboldt on the 1935 USGS mapHumboldt on the 1940 USGS mapHumboldt on the 1983 USGS mapHumboldt on the 1998 USGS map1935Arcola 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 Humboldt.

Questions about Humboldt’s history

What year was Humboldt founded?

In 1878, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Humboldt’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 237 people here.

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, 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.