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History · Maceo

Maceo’s post office opened in 1897, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Maceo began

When was Maceo founded?

1897

The Maceo post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Powers Station (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 404129 years
Founding year: the first Maceo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Maceo’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 Maceo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Maceo’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Maceo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maceo’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
The story

How Maceo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maceo.

Read it all →

The community was founded by freed slaves just after the U.S. Civil War. In 1890, the Louisville, Henderson & St. Louis Railroad company set up a station and post office there named Powers Station, Kentucky, after Col. J.D. Powers. This name was often confused with another post office named Powers Store, Kentucky. At the suggestion of Post Master Edwin P. Taylor, the post office was renamed to honor Cuban General Antonio Maceo Grajales in 1897.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maceo, 1891 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Powers Station post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Powers Station post office closes
  4. 1897Post officeThe Maceo post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Maceo on the map, 1953 to 1974

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

Maceo on the 1953 USGS mapMaceo on the 1961 USGS mapMaceo on the 1974 USGS map1953Maceo 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 Maceo.

Famous people

Famous people close to Maceo

Nobody well known was born in Maceo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
Johnny DeppAmerican actor · b. 1963
Nicky HaydenAmerican motorcycle racer · b. 1981
Tom EwellAmerican actor · b. 1909
Wendell FordAmerican politician · b. 1924
Cliff HaganAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1931
Bill PeetArtist, illustrator, author, animator and story… · b. 1915
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Maceo’s post office has been open since 1897. Another post office, Powers Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Powers Station
1891–1897
Maceo
1897–today
18901960today

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

Questions about Maceo’s history

What year was Maceo founded?

The Maceo post office opened in 1897, 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, 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.