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History · Crary

Crary’s post office opened in 1884, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1910.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Crary began

When was Crary founded?

1884

The Crary post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 279 in 19102020 census: 113142 years
Founding year: the first Crary post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Crary’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Crary.

Read it all →

Crary was founded in 1884 and is named after William Crary, who owned much of the land encompassing the present-day community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Crary, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Crary, North Dakota22005Crary, North Dakota2Crary, North Dakota2005Crary, North DakotaCrary, North Dakota2005Crary, North DakotaCrary, North Dakota2005Crary, North Dakota
On the map

Crary on the map, 1951 to 1994

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

Crary on the 1951 USGS mapCrary on the 1985 USGS mapCrary on the 1994 USGS map1951Crary sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Crary, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 307

Between 113 and 307 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Crary’s post office has been open since 1884.

Gone or out of use
Crary Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Crary’s history

What year was Crary founded?

The Crary post office opened in 1884, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, 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.