Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ambia

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 · Ambia

Ambia’s post office opened in 1873, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ambia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ambia began

When was Ambia founded?

1873

The Ambia post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1875.

First census: 253 in 18802020 census: 227153 years
Founding year: the first Ambia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1875.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ambia’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 603 in 1940; 227 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1921, drew every building in Ambia.Old housesHalf of Ambia’s homes were built before 1940.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ambia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewAmbia downtown Indiana historic: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Ambia, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 603

Peaked at 603 in 1940; 227 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Every building

Ambia, building by building, 1895–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Ambia fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Ambia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ambia.

Read it all →

Ambia was laid out by Ezekiel M. Talbot and his wife Marietta on February 22, 1875, and named for their daughter Ambia Talbot. (The couple had two years earlier planned the nearby town of Talbot.) Its first building was a house erected by James C. Pugh which was soon joined by a grain elevator, general store and blacksmith. A drug store, hardware store, hotel, physician and a variety of other establishments followed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ambia, 1873 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Ambia post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 603
By decade

Ambia, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Ambia downtown Indiana historicDate?Ambia downtown Indiana historic
Today3 recent
Ambia, Indiana2007Ambia, IndianaAmbia, Indiana sign2007Ambia, Indiana signAmbia, Indiana park2007Ambia, Indiana park
On the map

Ambia on the map in 1938

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ambia.

Ambia on the 1938 USGS map1938Hoopeston 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 Ambia.

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.

Ambia downtown Indiana historic
Retake this viewAmbia downtown Indiana historic

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Ambia’s history

What year was Ambia founded?

The Ambia post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1875.

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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.