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History · Du Bois

Du Bois’ post office opened in 1886, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

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

1886first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Du Bois began, and where its name came from

When was Du Bois founded?

1886

The Du Bois post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cincinnati (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 316 in 18902020 census: 122140 years

How did Du Bois get its name?

Du Bois was named for Captain Charles J. DuBois, a railroad official.

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

What stands out about Du Bois’ 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 Du Bois are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Du Bois’ homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Du Bois’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Du Bois’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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The story

How Du Bois came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Du Bois.

Read it all →

Du Bois was platted in 1886 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Captain Charles J. DuBois, a railroad official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Du Bois, 1869 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Cincinnati post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Cincinnati post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Du Bois post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Du Bois on the map, 1965 to 1986

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

Du Bois on the 1965 USGS mapDu Bois on the 1986 USGS map1965Du Bois 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 Du Bois.

People over time

Du Bois, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 350

Between 119 and 350 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Du Bois’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Cincinnati, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cincinnati
1869–1886
Du Bois
1886–today
18601940today
Gone or out of use
DuBoislocale

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

Questions about Du Bois’ history

What year was Du Bois founded?

The Du Bois post office opened in 1886, 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 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.