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History · Staunton

Staunton’s post office opened in 1853, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1870.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Staunton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Staunton began

When was Staunton founded?

1853

The Staunton post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 589 in 18702020 census: 472173 years
Founding year: the first Staunton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Staunton’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 746 in 1910; 472 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19104 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1980. Watch Staunton change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Staunton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, In…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Staunton, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 746

Peaked at 746 in 1910; 472 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

On the map

Staunton on the map, 1910 to 1980

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

Staunton on the 1910 USGS mapStaunton on the 1958 USGS mapStaunton on the 1972 USGS mapStaunton on the 1980 USGS map1910Clay City 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 Staunton.

The story

How Staunton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Staunton.

Read it all →

Staunton had its start in the year 1851 by the building of the railroad through that territory. The town was named after Staunton, Virginia. During the 1910s all of the elected officials in the town were members of the Socialist Party of America.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Staunton, 1853 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Staunton post office opens
  3. 1887Born hereCarl Stephens Ell is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 746
  7. 1946In the archiveChinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, Indiana. Large travelling dipper shovel is inspected…
By decade

Staunton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Chinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, Indiana. Large travelling dipper shovel is inspected by Rear Admiral Boone and his…1946Chinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, Indiana. Large t…Travelling dipper shovel in operation at this strip coal mine. Ayrshire Colliers Company, Chinook Mine, Stauton, Clay C…1946Travelling dipper shovel in operation at this strip c…
1950s–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
Today3 recent
Staunton-post-office-in2020Staunton-post-office-inStaunton-Monroe-Street-in2020Staunton-Monroe-Street-inStaunton-Community-Center-in2020Staunton-Community-Center-in
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.

Chinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, Indiana. Large travelling dipper shovel is inspected by Rear Admiral Boone and his…
Retake this viewChinook Mine. Staunton, Clay County, Indiana. Large travelling dipper shovel is inspected by Rear Admiral Boone and his…, 1946

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Staunton’s history

What year was Staunton founded?

The Staunton post office opened in 1853, 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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.