Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Stendal

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 · Stendal

Stendal’s post office opened in 1873, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1903 on.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Stendal began

When was Stendal founded?

1873

The Stendal post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

153 years
Founding year: the first Stendal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stendal’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 Stendal are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1980. Watch Stendal change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stendal’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stendal’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
On the map

Stendal on the map, 1903 to 1980

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

Stendal on the 1903 USGS mapStendal on the 1961 USGS mapStendal on the 1980 USGS map1903Velpen 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 Stendal.

The story

How Stendal came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stendal.

Read it all →

Stendal was laid out in 1867, and named after Stendal, in Germany. A post office has been in operation at Stendal since 1873.

In 1912, Lockhart Township built a frame building in Stendal to function as a new school. In addition to housing a grade school the building also served as a new high school, registered that same year. However, the high school was not certified until 1923. In addition to the student base of Lockhart Township, the Stendal High School provided students from surrounding townships with an opportunity for a high school education. It had neither a gymnasium nor an assembly room. In early years, basketball and the Junior and Senior class plays were the only extra-curricular activities offered.

ChaptersStendal High School and the Stendal Aces

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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Stendal

Nobody well known was born in Stendal itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Florence HendersonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1934
Don BuseAmerican basketball player · b. 1950
Edd RoushAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1893
Dick FarleyAmerican basketball player · b. 1932
B
Bumper TormohlenAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1937
Jeremy SpencerAmerican drummer · b. 1973

Questions about Stendal’s history

What year was Stendal founded?

The Stendal post office opened in 1873, 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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.