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History · Lucerne

Lucerne’s post office opened in 1887, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lucerne began

When was Lucerne founded?

1887

The Lucerne post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 292 in 19002020 census: 57139 years
Founding year: the first Lucerne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lucerne’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 Lucerne are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lucerne’s homes were built before 1942.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lucerne’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Lucerne.

Read it all →

Lucerne was platted in 1887. The community most likely took its name from Lucerne, Ohio. A post office called Lucerne has been in operation since 1887.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lucerne, 1887 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Lucerne post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917Born hereMalcolm H. Myers is born here
  5. 1964On 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.
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On the map

Lucerne on the map, 1964 to 1981

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

Lucerne on the 1964 USGS mapLucerne on the 1981 USGS map1964Lucerne 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 Lucerne.

People over time

Lucerne, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 316

Between 51 and 316 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Lucerne’s history

What year was Lucerne founded?

The Lucerne post office opened in 1887, 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, 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.