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–Not graded
History · Stephen

Stephen’s post office opened in 1883, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

1883first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Stephen began

When was Stephen founded?

1883

The Stephen post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tamarac (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 592143 years
Founding year: the first Stephen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stephen’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 Stephen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Stephen’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stephen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stephen’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 Stephen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stephen.

Read it all →

A post office called Stephen has been in operation since 1883. The city was named for George Stephen, a railroad official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stephen, 1879 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Tamarac post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Tamarac post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Stephen post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1972Born hereCraig Smith 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.
Add from your album
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Stephen’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Tamarac, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tamarac
1879–1883
Stephen
1883–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Valley Court
Gone or out of use
Stephen Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Stephen
Stephen

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.

Tamarac TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSinnott TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Stephen’s history

What year was Stephen founded?

The Stephen post office opened in 1883, 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, 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.