Lavina’s post office opened in 1883, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings.
How Lavina began
When was Lavina founded?
The Lavina post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
4 historic places in Lavina
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Architectural styles listings
All 4 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places now gone and burying grounds
Lavina’s post office has been open since 1883.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lavina’s history
What year was Lavina founded?
The Lavina post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Lavina?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Slayton Mercantile Co. (listed 2000, the first), and 1 historic district, the Lavina School Historic District, with 5 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.