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History · Sunburst

Sunburst’s post office opened in 1912, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

1912first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Sunburst began, and where its name came from

When was Sunburst founded?

1912

The Sunburst post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 333114 years

How did Sunburst get its name?

Sunburst’s name comes from what is considered a dramatic sunrise that occurs when the sun comes over the Sweetgrass Hills and illuminates the local fields.

Founding year: the first Sunburst post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Sunburst’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 Sunburst are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Sunburst’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sunburst’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Sunburst.

Read it all →

Sunburst has its origins as a farming community and later saw significant population growth after oil development occurred in the 1920s. A refinery was built in 1922 with the discovery of oil in the Kevin Sunburst Oil Field. Since oil development in the area ceased in the 1970s, Sunburst has once again become a primarily agricultural town. The local high school gives homage to its past, as its students are known as the Sunburst Refiners. Its name comes from what is considered a dramatic sunrise that occurs when the sun comes over the Sweetgrass Hills and illuminates the local fields.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

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Places that used to be

Places now gone

Sunburst’s post office has been open since 1912.

Gone or out of use
Sunburst Airportairport

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

Questions about Sunburst’s history

What year was Sunburst founded?

The Sunburst post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 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.