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History · Daykin

Daykin’s post office opened in 1887, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Daykin began

When was Daykin founded?

1887

The Daykin post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 189 in 19002020 census: 153139 years
Founding year: the first Daykin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Daykin’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 Daykin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 220 in 1910; 153 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Daykin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Daykin’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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People over time

Daykin, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 220

Peaked at 220 in 1910; 153 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Daykin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Daykin.

Read it all →

Daykin was founded by John Daykin, a train conductor and stonemason from Illinois. In 1869, John Daykin purchased land in Jefferson County, Nebraska that would later become Daykin. Besides founding the town, he remains most recognized for conducting the train that returned Abraham Lincoln's body to Springfield, Illinois.

Daykin at one point had a population that reached near 300 people. The town held businesses such as a doctor's office, a butcher, laundromat, veterinarian, hotel, blacksmith, furniture store, jewelry store and many more. The Jefferson County Bank was built in 1887, and has been in continuous operation since then, surviving the market crash of the 1930s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Daykin, 1887 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Daykin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 220
  5. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Daykin, decade by decade

Today5 recent
7XkLpQv92MtN20257XkLpQv92MtNDaykin, Nebraska Jefferson from Purdy 22013Daykin, Nebraska Jefferson from Purdy 2Daykin, Nebraska Jefferson from Purdy 12013Daykin, Nebraska Jefferson from Purdy 1Farmers co op daykin nebraska 20092009Farmers co op daykin nebraska 2009NEMap-doton-Daykin2005NEMap-doton-Daykin
On the map

Daykin on the map, 1960 to 1985

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

Daykin on the 1960 USGS mapDaykin on the 1985 USGS map1960Daykin 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 Daykin.

Famous people

Famous people close to Daykin

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

See all →
R
Robert B. WilsonAmerican economist and Nobel laureate · b. 1937
Anna Louise StrongAmerican journalist · b. 1885
W
Willard SchmidtBasketball player · b. 1910
Kate BarnardAmerican sociologist · b. 1875
Maxine GatesActress · b. 1917
C
Clifford Dwight WaldoAmerican political scientist · b. 1913

Questions about Daykin’s history

What year was Daykin founded?

The Daykin post office opened in 1887, 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), 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.