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History · Alden

Alden dates to 1872, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1920.

1872founded
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Alden began

When was Alden founded?

1872

Alden dates its founding to 1872 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 333 in 19202020 census: 122154 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓

What stands out about Alden’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 Alden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18943 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1985. Watch Alden change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alden’s collection

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

Alden on the map, 1894 to 1985

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

Alden on the 1894 USGS mapAlden on the 1967 USGS mapAlden on the 1985 USGS map1894Lyons sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alden.

The story

How Alden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alden.

Read it all →

Alden was founded in 1872. It was a station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Alden was named for Alden Speare, a railroad employee. The first post office in Alden was established in 1882.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alden, 1872 to 1894

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872
    FoundingAlden is established
  3. 1882Post officeThe Alden post office opens
  4. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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People over time

Alden, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 333

Between 122 and 333 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Alden’s post office has been open since 1882.

Gone or out of use
Alden Elementary Schoolschool

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

Questions about Alden’s history

What year was Alden founded?

In 1872, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Alden’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1920 counted 333 people here.

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, 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.