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History · Haviland

Haviland’s post office opened in 1886, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1910.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Haviland began

When was Haviland founded?

1886

The Haviland post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 568 in 19102020 census: 678140 years
Founding year: the first Haviland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Haviland’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 Haviland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1985. Watch Haviland change.Old housesHalf of Haviland’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Haviland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Haviland’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
On the map

Haviland on the map, 1889 to 1985

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

Haviland on the 1889 USGS mapHaviland on the 1892 USGS mapHaviland on the 1968 USGS mapHaviland on the 1985 USGS map1889Kinsley 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 Haviland.

The story

How Haviland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Haviland.

Read it all →

Haviland was settled by a group of Quakers originally from Indiana and named for Laura Haviland, a leader of the Underground Railroad.

The first post office in Haviland was established in June 1886. Haviland was incorporated as a city in 1906.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Haviland, 1886 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Haviland post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1931Born herePaul Elbridge Wright is born here
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 album
People over time

Haviland, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 770

Between 499 and 770 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Haviland’s history

What year was Haviland founded?

The Haviland 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, 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) 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.