Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Coffey

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Coffey

Coffey was first counted by the census in 1880, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Coffey began

When was Coffey founded?

1880

Coffey first appears in the census in 1880. Another post office, Coffeyburg (1867), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 75 in 18802020 census: 151146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Coffey’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 Coffey are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 390 in 1900; 151 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19253 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1984. Watch Coffey change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coffey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coffey’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
People over time

Coffey, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 390

Peaked at 390 in 1900; 151 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Coffey on the map, 1925 to 1984

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

Coffey on the 1925 USGS mapCoffey on the 1944 USGS mapCoffey on the 1984 USGS map1925Pattonsburg 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 Coffey.

The story

How Coffey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coffey.

Read it all →

Coffey was originally called Salem and then Coffeyburg, and under the latter name was laid out in 1856 by B. H. Coffey, and named for him. A post office called Coffeysburg was established in 1867, and the name was changed to Coffey in 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coffey, 1867 to 1925

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Coffeyburg post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 390
  5. 1910Post officeThe Coffeyburg post office closes
  6. 1910Post officeThe Coffey post office opens
  7. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 and old corners

Coffey’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Coffeyburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Coffeyburg
1867–1910
Coffey
1910–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Salem Coffey P O and Station

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

Questions about Coffey’s history

What year was Coffey founded?

The Coffey post office opened in 1880, 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, 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.