Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Emerson City Park. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1900.
Emerson dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
Emerson was named in honor of the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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 Emerson’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Emerson.
Emerson was laid out in 1881 at an important rail junction. It was named in honor of the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was incorporated as a village in 1888.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Emerson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
that point in December, and a commodious depot was finished about the first of January. The town was named after Chief Engineer Wakefield who located the railroad line from Emerson to Norfolk. The town of Wakefield, thus advantageously located and having a tine water power and a rich tributary country around it, started with encouraging prospects. In the previous spring and summer many had settled in Logan valley, and within a radius of five
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Taught two years. When 21 years old he came to David City, Neb., and taught school and studied law. In 1882, came to Emerson and went into the law and real estate business. Built a residence and store, and Emerson's first newspaper office, and was connected with its first paper, the "Emerson Echo." Has been in the mercantile business at Emerson, with Theodore Kuntz for several years past, and president of the German American Bank since it started in 1892. Mar-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska - Thurston County - Emerson - ED 87-13
Born hereLewis Webster Jones is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Emerson. 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 Emerson.
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 Emerson’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 617 and 891 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Emerson’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Emerson’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Ellis, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Emerson’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1900 counted 617 people here.
One place: the Emerson City Park (listed 2018).
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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