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History · Melbourne

Melbourne’s post office opened in 1891, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Tiemeyer House and the Trutschell House. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1970.

1891first post office
2on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Melbourne began

When was Melbourne founded?

1891

The Melbourne post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 275 in 19702020 census: 458135 years
Founding year: the first Melbourne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Melbourne’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 Melbourne are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18987 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1996. Watch Melbourne change.Boom and bustPeaked at 660 in 1990; 458 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Melbourne’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Melbourne’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Melbourne’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

Melbourne on the map, 1898 to 1996

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

Melbourne on the 1898 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1914 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1953 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1961 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1970 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1983 USGS mapMelbourne on the 1996 USGS map1898East Cincinnati 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 Melbourne.

People over time

Melbourne, census by census

0100200300400500600700198020002020Peak: 660

Peaked at 660 in 1990; 458 people lived here in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story so far

Melbourne, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melbourne yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Melbourne is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, along the south bank of the Ohio River. The population was 458 at the 2020 census. St. Anne Convent is located in Melbourne; scenes from the movie Rain Man were filmed there.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 401 to 458 (+14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Melbourne, 1854 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854BuiltTrutschell House is built
  3. 1891Post officeThe Melbourne post office opens
  4. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906BuiltTiemeyer House is built
  7. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 660
By decade

Melbourne, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Melbourne-RR-tracks-ky2019Melbourne-RR-tracks-kyMelbourne-Petes-Place-ky2019Melbourne-Petes-Place-kyMelbourne-KY8-ky2019Melbourne-KY8-kyMelbourne-City-Building-ky2019Melbourne-City-Building-kyKYMap-doton-Melbourne2004KYMap-doton-Melbourne
On the National Register

2 historic places in Melbourne

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Tiemeyer House
Tiemeyer House, built 1906Trutschell House, built 1854
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular2
Tiemeyer HouseVernacular · Built 1906
All 2 listings
Trutschell HouseBuilding · listed 1983

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Melbourne

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

See all →
Dave CowensAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1948
Jim BunningAmerican baseball player and politician · b. 1931
Lucien HubbardAmerican screenwriter · b. 1888
Thomas Pollock AnshutzAmerican painter and teacher · b. 1851
Andy KirkAmerican jazz saxophonist and tubist, bandleader · b. 1898
John Taliaferro ThompsonUnited States Army officer · b. 1860
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Melbourne’s post office has been open since 1891.

Gone or out of use
Camp Springs Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Silver GroveIts storyC+

Questions about Melbourne’s history

What year was Melbourne founded?

The Melbourne post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Melbourne?

Two places: the Tiemeyer House (listed 1983) and the Trutschell House (1983).

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 (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.