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History · Savonburg

Savonburg’s post office opened in 1879, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1910.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Savonburg began

When was Savonburg founded?

1879

The Savonburg post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 257 in 19102020 census: 74147 years
Founding year: the first Savonburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Savonburg’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 Savonburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18865 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1990. Watch Savonburg change.Old housesHalf of Savonburg’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Savonburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Savonburg’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

Savonburg on the map, 1886 to 1990

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

Savonburg on the 1886 USGS mapSavonburg on the 1893 USGS mapSavonburg on the 1904 USGS mapSavonburg on the 1985 USGS mapSavonburg on the 1990 USGS map1886Iola 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 Savonburg.

The story

How Savonburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Savonburg.

Read it all →

Savonburg was founded in 1879. The origin of the name Savonburg is obscure. It was incorporated as a city in 1902. Its high school closed in 1946, then its grade school closed in the 1960s. Many of the settlers of Savonburg were Swedish. In the early days, the city had a Swedish concert band. For much of the 20th century, Savonburg was served by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad which maintained a passenger depot in the city.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Savonburg, 1879 to 1927

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Savonburg post office opens
  3. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927Born hereGlen Culler is born here
By decade

Savonburg, decade by decade

Today1 recent
1945vs2015map20151945vs2015map
People over time

Savonburg, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 258

Between 74 and 258 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Savonburg’s history

What year was Savonburg founded?

The Savonburg post office opened in 1879, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.