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History · Bucyrus

Bucyrus dates to 1907, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1920.

1907founded
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Bucyrus began

When was Bucyrus founded?

1907

Bucyrus dates its founding to 1907 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 113 in 19202020 census: 18119 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1907.

What stands out about Bucyrus’ 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 Bucyrus are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bucyrus’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bucyrus’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 so far

Bucyrus, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bucyrus yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bucyrus is a city, without paved roads, in Adams County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 18 at the 2020 census. The city was founded in 1907 along the Milwaukee Road's transcontinental rail line known as the Pacific Extension. Before being named Bucyrus in 1908, the city was called first Wolf Butte and then Dolan, which was ultimately rejected due to similarity with Doland, South Dakota. The new name Bucyrus was taken from the Bucyrus Company steam shovels used to build the railroad grade within the city. In 1922 a cyclone hit and destroyed the home of the Herbert and Ruth Spencer family in Bucyrus, killing three and injuring three. After the storm, the surviving family memb…

Bucyrus was established in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 27 to 18 (-33%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bucyrus, 1907 to 1984

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907
    FoundingBucyrus is established
  3. 1907Post officeThe Dolan post office opens
  4. 1908Post officeThe Dolan post office closes
  5. 1908Post officeThe Bucyrus post office opens
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1984Post officeThe Bucyrus post office closes
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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On the map

Bucyrus on the map, 1953 to 1980

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

Bucyrus on the 1953 USGS mapBucyrus on the 1974 USGS mapBucyrus on the 1980 USGS map1953Dickinson sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bucyrus.

People over time

Bucyrus, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 124

Between 18 and 124 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bucyrus

Nobody well known was born in Bucyrus itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Warren ChristopherU.S. Secretary of State · b. 1925
Kat PerkinsAmerican singer · b. 1980
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Bucyrus had its own post office from 1908 to 1984. Another post office, Dolan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dolan
1907–1908
Bucyrus
1908–1984
19001960today

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

Questions about Bucyrus’ history

What year was Bucyrus founded?

In 1907, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bucyrus’ post office opened in 1907, and the census of 1920 counted 113 people here.

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 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.