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History · Gem

Gem’s post office opened in 1885, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1930.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gem began

When was Gem founded?

1885

The Gem post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 200 in 19302020 census: 98141 years
Founding year: the first Gem post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gem’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 Gem are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Gem’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gem’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gem’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
The story

How Gem came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gem.

Read it all →

Gem was a shipping point on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. The town was named from the Gem Ranch.

The first post office in Gem was established in 1885. It was closed in March 2014.

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

Gem on the map, 1979 to 1985

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

Gem on the 1979 USGS mapGem on the 1985 USGS map1979Gem 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 Gem.

People over time

Gem, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 200

Between 80 and 200 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Questions about Gem’s history

What year was Gem founded?

The Gem post office opened in 1885, 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, 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.