The story
Read it all →How Karlstad came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Karlstad.
A post office called Karlstad has been in operation since 1905. The city was named after Karlstad, Sweden.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Karlstad
Karlstad’s post office opened in 1905, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1910.
1905first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Karlstad began
When was Karlstad founded?
1905
The Karlstad post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Klingville (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 138 in 19102020 census: 710121 years
Founding year: the first Karlstad post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Karlstad’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Karlstad’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Karlstad’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Karlstad, 1904 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people 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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Karlstad on the map, 1956 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Karlstad. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Karlstad sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Karlstad.
People over time
Karlstad, census by census
Between 138 and 934 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Karlstad’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Karlstad’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Klingville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Klingville
Karlstad
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Green Lea Mobile Home ParkSundby Mobile Home Court
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Karlstad
KarlstadPearson
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.
Questions about Karlstad’s history
What year was Karlstad founded?
The Karlstad post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.