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History · Perry

Perry’s post office opened in 1866, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Perry’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Perry began

When was Perry founded?

1866

The Perry post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 147 in 18802020 census: 665160 years
Founding year: the first Perry post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Perry’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 976 in 1930; 665 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Perry’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Perry’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perry’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGill Bridge, Spanning Lick Creek at Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Perry, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 976

Peaked at 976 in 1930; 665 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Perry came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Perry.

Read it all →

Perry was platted in 1866, and named after William Perry Crostwaite, a first settler. A post office called Perry has been in operation since 1866.

Greenlawn Methodist Church and Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Perry, 1866 to 1945

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Perry post office opens
  3. 1884Born herePercy Heath is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 976
  6. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Perry, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Gill Bridge, Spanning Lick Creek at County Road 181Date?Gill Bridge, Spanning Lick Creek at County Road 181
On the map

Perry on the map, 1945 to 1973

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

Perry on the 1945 USGS mapPerry on the 1973 USGS map1945Perry 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 Perry.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Gill Bridge, Spanning Lick Creek at County Road 181
Retake this viewGill Bridge, Spanning Lick Creek at County Road 181

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Perry’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Perry’s post office has been open since 1866.

Gone or out of use
Perry Elementary Schoolschool

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

Questions about Perry’s history

What year was Perry founded?

The Perry post office opened in 1866, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.