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History · Harveyville

Harveyville’s post office opened in 1869, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1910.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harveyville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harveyville began, and where its name came from

When was Harveyville founded?

1869

The Harveyville post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 331 in 19102020 census: 178157 years

How did Harveyville get its name?

Harveyville was named for Henry Harvey, a missionary to the Shawnee Indians and early settlers at the town site.

Founding year: the first Harveyville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Harveyville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Harveyville’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harveyville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harveyville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Harveyville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harveyville.

Read it all →

Harveyville was founded in 1880. It was named for Henry Harvey, a missionary to the Shawnee Indians and early settlers at the town site. Harveyville was incorporated as a city in 1905.

Chapters2012 Tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harveyville, 1869 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Harveyville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archive1907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo
  5. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Harveyville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
1907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo19071907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Harveyville on the map, 1952 to 1972

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

Harveyville on the 1952 USGS mapHarveyville on the 1972 USGS map1952Harveyville 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 Harveyville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo
Retake this view1907 GaringerFarrell ElevatorCo, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Harveyville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Harveyville, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 333

Between 178 and 333 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Harveyville’s history

What year was Harveyville founded?

The Harveyville post office opened in 1869, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.