Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the IOOF Hall and Opera House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1910.
The Bladen post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wells (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bladen’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bladen. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bladen.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bladen.
Bladen was established in 1886 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point. The community bears the name of a pioneer settler.
Bladen has been the home of the Webster County Fair since 1906.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska (NE) - Webster County - Bladen - ED 91-8
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bladen’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 205 and 494 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bladen’s Wikipedia page.
Bladen’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Wells, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bladen post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the IOOF Hall and Opera House (listed 1988).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (9), Wikidata (1), 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.
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