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History · Hanley Falls

Hanley Falls dates to 1884, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

1884founded
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hanley Falls began

When was Hanley Falls founded?

1884

Hanley Falls dates its founding to 1884 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1872.

2020 census: 243142 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1872.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hanley Falls’ 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 Hanley Falls are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Hanley Falls’ homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hanley Falls’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hanley Falls’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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The story

How Hanley Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hanley Falls.

Read it all →

Hanley Falls was laid out in 1884 when the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway was extended to that point. The city was named after a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at Hanley Falls since 1887. Hanley Falls was incorporated in 1892.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hanley Falls, 1872 to 1887

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Silliards post office opens
  3. 1884
    FoundingHanley Falls is established
  4. 1887Post officeThe Silliards post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe Hanley Falls post office opens
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.

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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Hanley Falls’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Silliards, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Silliards
1872–1887
Hanley Falls
1887–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Hanley Falls’ history

What year was Hanley Falls founded?

In 1884, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hanley Falls’ post office opened in 1872.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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, 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.