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History · Hurley

Hurley’s post office opened in 1898, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1945 on and the census since 1960.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hurley began

When was Hurley founded?

1898

The Hurley post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 117 in 19602020 census: 176128 years
Founding year: the first Hurley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hurley’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 Hurley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then more than doubled.Old housesHalf of Hurley’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hurley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hurley’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

Hurley, census by census

01001960198020002020148 in 1970Low: 87

Lost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then more than doubled.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

The story

How Hurley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hurley.

Read it all →

A post office called Hurley has been in operation since 1898. The name "Hurley" was assigned by postal officials.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hurley, 1898 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Hurley post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 178
By decade

Hurley, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MOMap-doton-Hurley2004MOMap-doton-Hurley
On the map

Hurley on the map, 1945 to 1985

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

Hurley on the 1945 USGS mapHurley on the 1954 USGS mapHurley on the 1964 USGS mapHurley on the 1985 USGS map1945Harrison sheet · 1:250,000

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

Questions about Hurley’s history

What year was Hurley founded?

The Hurley post office opened in 1898, 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 (1), 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.