Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Galesburg

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Galesburg

Galesburg’s post office opened in 1882, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1950.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Galesburg began

When was Galesburg founded?

1882

The Galesburg post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 169 in 19502020 census: 118144 years
Founding year: the first Galesburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Galesburg’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 Galesburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Galesburg’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Galesburg’s collection

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

Galesburg, in brief

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

Galesburg is a city in Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 118 at the 2020 census. Galesburg was founded in 1882. Galesburg is the home to the world's fifth tallest currently standing structure, the KRDK-TV mast, which stands at 2,060 ft (630 m) tall.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 108 to 118 (+9%).

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

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Galesburg on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Galesburg on the 1966 USGS mapGalesburg on the 1985 USGS map1966Galesburg 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 Galesburg.

People over time

Galesburg, census by census

01001960198020002020Peak: 169

Between 108 and 169 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Questions about Galesburg’s history

What year was Galesburg founded?

The Galesburg post office opened in 1882, 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 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.