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History · Firth

Firth’s post office opened in 1872, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Firth began

When was Firth founded?

1872

The Firth post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 230 in 18802020 census: 649154 years
Founding year: the first Firth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Firth’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 Firth are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18973 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1986. Watch Firth change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Firth’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Firth’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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On the map

Firth on the map, 1897 to 1986

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

Firth on the 1897 USGS mapFirth on the 1965 USGS mapFirth on the 1986 USGS map1897Lincoln sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Firth.

The story

How Firth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Firth.

Read it all →

A courthouse square was planned in the area that would become Firth sometime before 1860. However, due to Firth's remote location, residents would have had to travel to Nebraska City for supplies, meaning that the area remained largely uninhabited by non-Natives for many years. Firth was settled in the early 1870s, as the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad was extended toward Lincoln. The post office was established in 1872, named for Superintendent Frank Firth of the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad, and was incorporated in 1879.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Firth, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Norris High School2017Norris High SchoolFirth, Nebraska from SW 22012Firth, Nebraska from SW 2Firth, Nebraska from SW 12012Firth, Nebraska from SW 1Firth, Nebraska 3rd Street 12012Firth, Nebraska 3rd Street 1NEMap-doton-Firth2005NEMap-doton-Firth
People over time

Firth, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020649

Grew from 230 people in 1880 to 649 in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Firth

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

See all →
Roy BarcroftAmerican actor · b. 1902
D
Dean SteinkuhlerAll-American college football player, professio… · b. 1961
A
Adam ManiaPolish swimmer · b. 1983
Jakson ReetzAmerican baseball player · b. 1996
D
Dale YoungAmerican politician · b. 1928

Questions about Firth’s history

What year was Firth founded?

The Firth post office opened in 1872, 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 →
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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.