The story
Read it all →How Cedar Vale came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cedar Vale.
Cedar Vale was founded in 1870. Its name is meant to be descriptive of the town's setting.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Cedar Vale
Cedar Vale’s post office opened in 1870, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Adam, L.C., Mercantile Building and the Hewins Park Pavilion. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
1870first post office
2on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Cedar Vale began
When was Cedar Vale founded?
1870
The Cedar Vale post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 218 in 18802020 census: 476156 years
Founding year: the first Cedar Vale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Cedar Vale’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 Cedar Vale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,044 in 1920; 476 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1912, drew every building in Cedar Vale.Old housesHalf of Cedar Vale’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cedar Vale’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cedar Vale’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Cedar Vale, census by census
Peaked at 1,044 in 1920; 476 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cedar Vale’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Cedar Vale, building by building, 1894–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Cedar Vale, 1870 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1870Post officeThe Cedar Vale post office opens
- 20th century
- 1904BuiltAdam, L.C., Mercantile Building is built
- 1913BuiltHewins Park Pavilion is built
- 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,044
- 1931Born hereJerry N. Hess is born here
- 1948Born hereNancy Parrish is born here
- 1985
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Cedar Vale, decade by decade
2005
2004On the map
Cedar Vale on the map in 1985
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cedar Vale.
1985Sedan sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cedar Vale.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Cedar Vale
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Adam, L.C., Mercantile Building
Buildings
All 2 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Cedar Vale
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Cedar Vale’s history
What year was Cedar Vale founded?
The Cedar Vale post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Cedar Vale?
Two places: the Adam, L.C., Mercantile Building (listed 2007) and the Hewins Park Pavilion (2007).
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.