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History · Gridley

Gridley’s post office opened in 1886, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1920.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gridley began

When was Gridley founded?

1886

The Gridley post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fredericktown (1866) and Bangor (1871), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 321 in 19202020 census: 313140 years
Founding year: the first Gridley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gridley’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 Gridley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18855 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1990. Watch Gridley change.Boom and bustPeaked at 434 in 1930; 313 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gridley.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gridley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gridley’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

Gridley on the map, 1885 to 1990

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

Gridley on the 1885 USGS mapGridley on the 1894 USGS mapGridley on the 1967 USGS mapGridley on the 1985 USGS mapGridley on the 1990 USGS map1885Burlington 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 Gridley.

People over time

Gridley, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 434

Peaked at 434 in 1930; 313 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Gridley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gridley.

Read it all →

The first post office in Gridley was established on June 23, 1886.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gridley, 1866 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Fredericktown post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Fredericktown post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Bangor post office opens
  5. 1885On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1886Post officeThe Bangor post office closes
  7. 1886Post officeThe Gridley post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 434
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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Gridley’s post office has been open since 1886. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fredericktown
1866–1871
Bangor
1871–1886
Gridley
1886–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Gridley’s history

What year was Gridley founded?

The Gridley post office opened in 1886, 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 →
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.