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History · Elgin

Elgin’s post office opened in 1910, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elgin began

When was Elgin founded?

1910

The Elgin post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 429 in 19202020 census: 543116 years
Founding year: the first Elgin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elgin’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 Elgin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 944 in 1960; 543 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Elgin’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elgin’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Elgin, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 944

Peaked at 944 in 1960; 543 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Elgin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin.

Read it all →

Elgin was platted in 1910 when the railroad was extended to that point. The town was originally known as Shanley, but when the Northern Pacific Railroad came through town, they objected to the name as it was too similar to Stanley (the seat of Mountrail County), so the citizens were asked to choose a new name. At one point, one committee member checked the time on his Elgin pocket watch and suggested the brand name, which was found to be acceptable. A post office has been in operation at Elgin since 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elgin, 1910 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Elgin post office opens
  3. 1957Born hereDonald Schaible is born here
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 944
  5. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Elgin on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elgin.

Elgin on the 1980 USGS map1980Elgin 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 Elgin.

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Elgin’s post office has been open since 1910.

6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elgin
American LutheranAssembly of GodBethesda United MethodistHope CongregationalImmanuel LutheranZion

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

Questions about Elgin’s history

What year was Elgin founded?

The Elgin post office opened in 1910, 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 Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.