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History · Alda

Alda’s post office opened in 1874, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail Site. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1930.

1874first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Quick answers

How Alda began

When was Alda founded?

1874

The Alda post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 153 in 19302020 census: 647152 years
Founding year: the first Alda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Alda’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 Alda are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1993. Watch Alda change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alda’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alda’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
On the map

Alda on the map, 1892 to 1993

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

Alda on the 1892 USGS mapAlda on the 1962 USGS mapAlda on the 1974 USGS mapAlda on the 1993 USGS map1892Grand Island 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 Alda.

The story

How Alda came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alda.

Read it all →

The Alda area was first settled in 1859. The village has the name of the first white child born within its borders. The town of Alda moved to its current site in 1873 in order to be on the railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Alda, decade by decade

Today4 recent
A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earthen bunkers, built beginning in 1942 near the town of Alda, outside…2021A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earth…A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earthen bunkers, built beginning in 1942 near the town of Alda, outside…2021A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earth…A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earthen bunkers, built beginning in 1942 near the town of Alda, outside…2021A remnant of the Cornhusker ordnance plants and earth…Alda, Nebraska downtown2010Alda, Nebraska downtown
On the National Register

1 historic place in Alda

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail Site
Sites
All 1 listings
Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail SiteSite · listed 1998

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Alda, census by census

010020030040050060070019401960198020002020Peak: 652

Between 151 and 652 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Alda

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

See all →
Henry FondaAmerican actor · b. 1905
Sandy DennisAmerican actress · b. 1937
Ivan SutherlandAmerican computer scientist and Internet pioneer · b. 1938
Edith AbbottAmerican economist · b. 1876
J
J. P. GuilfordAmerican psychologist · b. 1897
N
Neal HeftiAmerican jazz trumpeter, composer, songwriter, … · b. 1922

Questions about Alda’s history

What year was Alda founded?

The Alda post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Alda?

One place: the Townsley-Murdock Immigrant Trail Site (listed 1998).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.