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History · Tab

Tab’s post office opened in 1907, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Huw Williams (Huwmanbeing) · Public domain
Quick answers

How Tab began

When was Tab founded?

1907

The Tab post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 36119 years
Founding year: the first Tab post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tab’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 Tab are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tab’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Tab came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tab.

Read it all →

The town was platted on November 25, 1905, by Harrison "Tab" Goodwine, who donated land for the town and the railroad. A post office was established in Tab on April 8, 1907, and closed on April 30, 1955.

Tab was home to a number of businesses in the early 20th century, including a hotel, lumberyard, hardware store, bank, blacksmith, barber shop, pool hall, telephone office, auto repair shop, two grocery stores and a Standard Oil bulk plant. There was also a train station, plus livestock pens for those animals being shipped. An annual Fall Festival used to be held which featured sack races, tug-of-war, baseball, hog-calling contests and competitions for who could harness and unharness a team of horses the fastest.

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.
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On the map

Tab on the map, 1961 to 1980

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

Tab on the 1961 USGS mapTab on the 1980 USGS map1961Tab 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 Tab.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tab

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

See all →
J
Jewell YoungAmerican basketball player/coach · b. 1913
J
Jean HixsonAmerican aviator · b. 1922
Thad MattaAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1967
Tom HamiltonAmerican football player · b. 1905
Frankie GustineAmerican baseball player · b. 1920
B
Bertha FosterFounding regent of the University of Miami · b. 1881

Questions about Tab’s history

What year was Tab founded?

The Tab post office opened in 1907, 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 →
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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.