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History · Clarks

Clarks dates to 1866, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Clarksville Township Carnegie Library. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1900.

1866founded
1on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Clarks began

When was Clarks founded?

1866

Clarks dates its founding to 1866 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 554 in 19002020 census: 344160 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1869.The full story ↓

What stands out about Clarks’ 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 Clarks are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Clarks change.Old housesHalf of Clarks’ homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clarks’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Clarks on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Clarks on the 1896 USGS mapClarks on the 1962 USGS mapClarks on the 1985 USGS map1896Stromsburg sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Clarks came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clarks.

Read it all →

Clarks was platted in 1866 when the Union Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. It is named for Silas Henry H. Clark, superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clarks, 1866 to 1896

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866
    FoundingClarks is established
  3. 1869Post officeThe Clarksville post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Clarksville post office closes
  5. 1881Post officeThe Clarks post office opens
  6. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Clarks, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Clarks, Nebraska from NE 22013Clarks, Nebraska from NE 2Clarks, Nebraska from NE 12013Clarks, Nebraska from NE 1Clarks, Nebraska Green from US30 12013Clarks, Nebraska Green from US30 1Clarks, Nebraska Green from Millard 22013Clarks, Nebraska Green from Millard 2Clarks, Nebraska Green from Millard 12013Clarks, Nebraska Green from Millard 1ClarksNE Library2012ClarksNE LibraryNEMap-doton-Clarks2005NEMap-doton-Clarks
On the National Register

1 historic place in Clarks

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
2021
Clarksville Township Carnegie Library
Clarksville Township Carnegie Library
Buildings
All 1 listings
Clarksville Township Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 2021

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

People over time

Clarks, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 605

Between 344 and 605 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Clarks’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Clarksville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Clarksville
1869–1881
Clarks
1881–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Clarks’ history

What year was Clarks founded?

In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clarks’ post office opened in 1869, and the census of 1900 counted 554 people here.

What is on the National Register in Clarks?

One place: the Clarksville Township Carnegie Library (listed 2021).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (7), 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.