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History · Bremen

Bremen’s post office opened in 1832, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1880.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Bremen began

When was Bremen founded?

1832

The Bremen post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 98 in 18802020 census: 172194 years
Founding year: the first Bremen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bremen’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 Bremen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 410 in 1950; 172 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19095 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1997. Watch Bremen change.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Bremen.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bremen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bremen’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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People over time

Bremen, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 410

Peaked at 410 in 1950; 172 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Bremen on the map, 1909 to 1997

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

Bremen on the 1909 USGS mapBremen on the 1953 USGS mapBremen on the 1963 USGS mapBremen on the 1983 USGS mapBremen on the 1997 USGS map1909Central City sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bremen.

The story

How Bremen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bremen.

Read it all →

The city was settled by German immigrants who named it after Bremen, Germany. A post office called Bremen has been in operation since 1832.

In the late hours of December 10, 2021, a violent tornado tore through the town, causing major damage and killing 11 residents. The tornado reached peak intensity before it hit the city. The northern part of the city was destroyed and other areas severely damaged by the high winds. Some of the worst damage in Bremen occurred along Bethlehem Cemetery Road, where a row of four homes were obliterated, with debris scattered and wind-rowed long distances through fields across the street.

Chapters2021 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bremen, 1832 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe Bremen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 410
By decade

Bremen, decade by decade

Today6 recent
EF4 Damage - 190 MPH in2021EF4 Damage - 190 MPH inBremen-trail-cc-ky22018Bremen-trail-cc-ky2Bremen-post-office-ky2018Bremen-post-office-kyBremen-Main-Street-ky2018Bremen-Main-Street-kyBremen-Fire-Department-ky2018Bremen-Fire-Department-kyKYMap-doton-Bremen2004KYMap-doton-Bremen

Questions about Bremen’s history

What year was Bremen founded?

The Bremen post office opened in 1832, 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 (6), 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.