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–Not graded
History · Hamberg

Hamberg’s post office opened in 1913, and 67% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1930.

1913first post office
0on the National Register
67%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 Hamberg began

When was Hamberg founded?

1913

The Hamberg post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Viking (1911), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 187 in 19302020 census: 11113 years
Founding year: the first Hamberg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Hamberg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hamberg’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

Hamberg, in brief

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

Hamberg is a city in Wells County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 11 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 21 to 11 (-48%).

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

Timeline

Hamberg, 1911 to 1943

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911Post officeThe Viking post office opens
  3. 1913Post officeThe Viking post office closes
  4. 1913Post officeThe Hamberg post office opens
  5. 1943On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Hamberg on the map, 1943 to 1986

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

Hamberg on the 1943 USGS mapHamberg on the 1951 USGS mapHamberg on the 1986 USGS map1943Maddock sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Hamberg, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 187

Between 11 and 187 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Hamberg’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Viking, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Viking
1911–1913
Hamberg
1913–today
19101970today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hamburg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorway Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hamberg’s history

What year was Hamberg founded?

The Hamberg post office opened in 1913, 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.