The story
Read it all →How Byers came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Byers.
Byers was founded in 1914. It was named for Otto Phillip Byers.
The first post office in Byers was established in April 1915.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Byers
Byers dates to 1914, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1920.
1914founded
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Byers began, and where its name came from
When was Byers founded?
1914
Byers dates its founding to 1914 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
First census: 212 in 19202020 census: 38112 years
How did Byers get its name?
Byers was named for Otto Phillip Byers.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1915. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
What stands out about Byers’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Byers’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Byers’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Byers on the map, 1892 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Byers. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Pratt sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Byers.
Timeline
Byers, 1892 to 1915
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1892
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1914FoundingByers is established
- 1915Post officeThe Byers post office opens
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 albumPeople over time
Byers, census by census
Between 35 and 212 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Byers’ Wikipedia page.
Questions about Byers’ history
What year was Byers founded?
In 1914, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Byers’ post office opened in 1915, and the census of 1920 counted 212 people here.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.