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History · Robards

Robards’ post office opened in 1922, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 2000.

1922first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Robards began

When was Robards founded?

1922

The Robards post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Robard's Station (1868) and Robard (1882), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 564 in 20002020 census: 449104 years
Founding year: the first Robards post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Robards’ 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 Robards are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19064 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1969. Watch Robards change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Robards.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Robards’s collection

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

Robards on the map, 1906 to 1969

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

Robards on the 1906 USGS mapRobards on the 1949 USGS mapRobards on the 1951 USGS mapRobards on the 1969 USGS map1906Sebree 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 Robards.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Robards’s post office has been open since 1922. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Robard's Station
1868–1882
Robard
1882–1922
Robards
1922–today
18601940today
1cemetery inside Robards
Eakins

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

The story

How Robards came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Robards.

Read it all →

The name of the precinct has gone through three changes. In 1868 it was officially "Robard's Station". In 1880 it became "Robard", and in 1924 the final change made it "Robards". Robards is pronounced "Robberds". The early settlers of the area included Reuben Moss, George Robards, George Eakins, Bennett Sandefur, Jordan Moss, Enoch Spencer, Thomas Reidout, Ben Wall, Nathan Smith, T. W. Royster, James McMullin, and Samuel McMullin Sr.

As far back as 1810 and through 1840, and even later, before Robards became a community, its site attracted daring horsemen who raced their steeds there on a race track, which was a straight half mile section of road, congregating to bet.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Robards, 1868 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Robard's Station post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Robard's Station post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Robard post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1922Post officeThe Robard post office closes
  8. 1922Post officeThe Robards post office opens
  9. 1941Born hereJim Owen 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.
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People over time

Robards, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 564

Between 449 and 564 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Questions about Robards’ history

What year was Robards founded?

The Robards post office opened in 1922, 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.