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History · Sonora

Sonora’s post office opened in 1859, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Sonora was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1870.

1859first post office
3on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sonora’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sonora began

When was Sonora founded?

1859

The Sonora post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Grangersville (1813), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 266 in 18702020 census: 565167 years
Founding year: the first Sonora post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sonora’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sonora’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sonora’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, a…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Sonora came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sonora.

Read it all →

Sonora began as an L&N Railroad construction camp known as "Bucksnort" in the late 1850s. This name is believed to have been inspired by the sounds of early locomotives, which the workers thought resembled deer snorts. When a depot was established at the site in 1859, the name was changed to "Sonora". This may have referred to Sonora, Mexico, the home of a railroad contractor.

U.S. Navy Master Diver Carl Brashear was born in nearby Tonieville and raised in Sonora.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sonora, 1813 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1813Post officeThe Grangersville post office opens
  3. 1828Post officeThe Grangersville post office closes
  4. 1859Post officeThe Sonora post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916In the archiveLewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, age 11, with sister, near Sonora, Kentucky, 1916
  7. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1942Born hereDavid Matthews is born here
By decade

Sonora, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Lewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, age 11, with sister, near Sonora, Kentucky, 19161916Lewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, age 11, with si…9-year old tobacco worker. Location: Hardin County--Sonora [vicinity], Kentucky19169-year old tobacco worker. Location: Hardin County--S…Demetra Jones. Father, G.G. Jones, R. 31916Demetra Jones. Father, G.G. Jones, R. 3Demetra Jones. Father, G.G. Jones, R. 31916Demetra Jones. Father, G.G. Jones, R. 3
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Sonora-post-office-ky2017Sonora-post-office-kySonora-from-Western-ky2017Sonora-from-Western-kySonora-Western-84-ky2017Sonora-Western-84-kySonora-RR-tracks-ky2017Sonora-RR-tracks-kySonora-Main-84-ky2017Sonora-Main-84-kySonora-City-Hall-ky2017Sonora-City-Hall-kyKYMap-doton-Sonora2004KYMap-doton-Sonora
On the map

Sonora on the map, 1938 to 1992

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

Sonora on the 1938 USGS mapSonora on the 1949 USGS mapSonora on the 1961 USGS mapSonora on the 1992 USGS map1938Elizabethtown 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 Sonora.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, age 11, with sister, near Sonora, Kentucky, 1916
Retake this viewLewis Hine, Demetra Jones, farm hand, age 11, with sister, near Sonora, Kentucky, 1916, 1916

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sonora’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Sonora

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
John D. Bland House
John Raine HouseJosiah Phillips House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate2
Gothic Revival1
All 3 listings
John D. Bland HouseBuilding · listed 1988John Raine HouseBuilding · listed 1988Josiah Phillips HouseDistrict · listed 1988

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

People over time

Sonora, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020565

Grew from 266 people in 1870 to 565 in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Sonora’s post office has been open since 1859. Another post office, Grangersville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grangersville
1813–1828
Sonora
1859–today
18101920today

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

Questions about Sonora’s history

What year was Sonora founded?

The Sonora post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sonora?

Three places: the John D. Bland House (listed 1988), the John Raine House (1988) and the Josiah Phillips House (1988).

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 (8), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.