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History · Craig

Craig’s post office opened in 1881, and 77% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
77%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Craig’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Craig began

When was Craig founded?

1881

The Craig post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 290 in 18902020 census: 202145 years
Founding year: the first Craig post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Craig’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Craig’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 462 in 1900; 202 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Craig’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView of the train station: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Craig came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Craig.

Read it all →

During the 19th century the land near Craig was inhabited by the Pawnee, Otoe-Missouria, and Omaha people. American Indian inhabitants were numerous when white settlement began in the 1860s.

The village was established as a water-station on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway and named for early settler William Stewart Craig, who in the early 1880s donated the land on which the town was built. Craig was laid out in 1881.

ChaptersWater tower

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Craig, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 462

Peaked at 462 in 1900; 202 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Timeline

Craig, 1881 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Craig post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 462
  5. 1908In the archiveView of the train station
  6. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Craig, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
View of the train station1908View of the train station
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Standpipe water tower in2019Standpipe water tower inCraig, Nebraska post office2010Craig, Nebraska post officeCraig, Nebraska Main Street 22010Craig, Nebraska Main Street 2Craig, Nebraska Main Street 12010Craig, Nebraska Main Street 1NEMap-doton-Craig2005NEMap-doton-Craig
On the map

Craig on the map, 1970 to 1986

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

Craig on the 1970 USGS mapCraig on the 1986 USGS map1970Craig 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 Craig.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

View of the train station
Retake this viewView of the train station, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Craig’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Craig

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

See all →
Jon KylAmerican politician · b. 1942
George DernAmerican politician · b. 1872
Hoot GibsonAmerican actor · b. 1892
Duke EriksonAmerican musician, singer, songwriter, screenwr… · b. 1951
John J. WhitacreAmerican politician · b. 1860
Val PetersonAmerican diplomat · b. 1903
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Craig’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Craiglocale

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

Questions about Craig’s history

What year was Craig founded?

The Craig post office opened in 1881, 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 (5), the Library of Congress (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.