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History · Ridgeway

Ridgeway’s post office opened in 1880, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

1880first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ridgeway began

When was Ridgeway founded?

1880

The Ridgeway post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Yankee Ridge (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 372146 years
Founding year: the first Ridgeway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ridgeway’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 Ridgeway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ridgeway’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ridgeway’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Ridgeway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ridgeway.

Read it all →

Ridgeway was originally called "Yankee Ridge". A post office called Yankee Ridge was established in 1872, and the name was changed to Ridgeway in 1880. The present name honors an employee of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ridgeway, 1872 to 1880

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Yankee Ridge post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Yankee Ridge post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Ridgeway post office opens
By decade

Ridgeway, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MOMap-doton-Ridgeway2004MOMap-doton-Ridgeway
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Ridgeway’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Yankee Ridge, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Yankee Ridge
1872–1880
Ridgeway
1880–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Ridgeway’s history

What year was Ridgeway founded?

The Ridgeway 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 →
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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, 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.