Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
The Edgar post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
Edgar was named for the son of a pioneer settler.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Edgar’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,105 in 1890; 428 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Edgar’s Wikipedia page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Edgar.
The first post office at Edgar was established in 1872. Edgar was platted as a town in 1873, when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for the son of a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 10
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 09 Saathoff Hardware 2
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 08 Saathoff Hardware 1
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 07 post office
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 06 End Zone Bar
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 05 Hansen law office
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 04
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 03
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 02 Hair Dimensions
2010Edgar, Nebraska C Street 01 Hair Dimensions
2005NEMap-doton-EdgarEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Edgar. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Edgar.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Edgar’s page.
Retake this view · +15The Edgar post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
