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History · Sebeka

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

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1900.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Sebeka began

When was Sebeka founded?

1891

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

First census: 223 in 19002020 census: 741135 years
Founding year: the first Sebeka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sebeka’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 Sebeka are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sebeka’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sebeka’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
The story

How Sebeka came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sebeka.

Read it all →

Sebeka originally grew around the depot of the K-line branch of the Great Northern Railway, which first came through the area in 1892. The first major industry in the area was logging. The town's first store was the Anderson Pioneer Store. The town was incorporated on March 19, 1898. Its population has gone from 233 in 1900 to a peak of 818 in 1960.

In the Sebeka High School building is a mural, painted in 1938, by artist Richard Haines that demonstrates the casein paint process as used in fresco-painting. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.

ChaptersPoint of interest

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sebeka, 1891 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Sebeka post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Born hereKenneth Arnold is born here
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sebeka, decade by decade

Today6 recent
City Hall2024City HallSebeka - Menahga Review Messenger Newspaper building2024Sebeka - Menahga Review Messenger Newspaper buildingDocumentSebeka MN street view2021Sebeka MN street viewSebeka MN post office2021Sebeka MN post officeSignage in the new gymnasium 2013-07-25 21-542013Signage in the new gymnasium 2013-07-25 21-54MNMap-doton-Sebeka2005MNMap-doton-Sebeka
On the map

Sebeka on the map, 1969 to 1986

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

Sebeka on the 1969 USGS mapSebeka on the 1986 USGS map1969Sebeka sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sebeka.

People over time

Sebeka, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 823

Between 223 and 823 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Red Eye TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRockwood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sebeka’s history

What year was Sebeka founded?

The Sebeka post office opened in 1891, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.