Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Crab Orchard

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 · Crab Orchard

Crab Orchard’s post office opened in 1864, and 91% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1890.

1864first post office
0on the National Register
91%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Crab Orchard began, and where its name came from

When was Crab Orchard founded?

1864

The Crab Orchard post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 229 in 18902020 census: 46162 years

How did Crab Orchard get its name?

Crab Orchard was named from a grove of crabapple trees near the town site.

Founding year: the first Crab Orchard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Crab Orchard’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 Crab Orchard are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Crab Orchard’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 278 in 1920; 46 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crab Orchard’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crab Orchard’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

How Crab Orchard came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Crab Orchard.

Read it all →

Crab Orchard was platted in 1883 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. It was named from a grove of crabapple trees near the town site.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Crab Orchard, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 278

Peaked at 278 in 1920; 46 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Timeline

Crab Orchard, 1864 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Crab Orchard post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 278
  5. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Crab Orchard, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd from Tierney 12013Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd from Tierney 1Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd 22013Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd 2Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd 12013Crab Orchard, Nebraska 725 Rd 1NEMap-doton-Crab Orchard2005NEMap-doton-Crab Orchard
On the map

Crab Orchard on the map, 1965 to 1986

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

Crab Orchard on the 1965 USGS mapCrab Orchard on the 1986 USGS map1965Crab Orchard 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 Crab Orchard.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Crab Orchard’s post office has been open since 1864.

Gone or out of use
Crab Orchardlocale

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

Questions about Crab Orchard’s history

What year was Crab Orchard founded?

The Crab Orchard post office opened in 1864, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.