Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lithium

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 · Lithium

Lithium’s post office opened in 1884, and 76% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1900.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
76%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lithium began

When was Lithium founded?

1884

The Lithium post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 93 in 19002020 census: 92142 years
Founding year: the first Lithium post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lithium’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 Lithium are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1990, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 19155 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1993. Watch Lithium change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lithium’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lithium’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

Lithium, census by census

0100190019201940196019802000202098 in 1910Low: 9

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1990, then grew more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Lithium on the map, 1915 to 1993

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

Lithium on the 1915 USGS mapLithium on the 1947 USGS mapLithium on the 1970 USGS mapLithium on the 1982 USGS mapLithium on the 1993 USGS map1915Chester 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 Lithium.

The story

How Lithium came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lithium.

Read it all →

Lithium was first surveyed as a town in 1882, and was incorporated in 1883. The location of the town was determined by two mineral springs, which were highly prized on account of their medicinal qualities, which led to the construction of a bath house by Thomas King in 1883. A Baptist church, Lithium Baptist, was organized in 1885 and a Catholic church, St. John the Evangelist, was organized in 1896. By 1912 the town had two general stores, two mills, a brick yard and population of 98.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lithium, 1884 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Lithium post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 98
  5. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1957Post officeThe Lithium post office closes
By decade

Lithium, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Lithium - town park2024Lithium - town parkLithium Roman Catholic Church2014Lithium Roman Catholic ChurchLithium Baptist Church2014Lithium Baptist Church
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Lithium had its own post office from 1884 to 1957.

Lithium
1884–1957
18801950today

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

Questions about Lithium’s history

What year was Lithium founded?

The Lithium post office opened in 1884, 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 (3), 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.