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History · Greeley Center

44% of Greeley Center’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1890.

1on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

Where Greeley Center’s name came from

How did Greeley Center get its name?

Greeley Center was named from its position near the geographical center of Greeley county.

More on the name

Greeley Center was named after Horace Greeley, a politician and journalist.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Greeley Center’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 Greeley Center are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 919 in 1920; 402 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Greeley Center’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greeley Center’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greeley Center’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

Greeley Center, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 919

Peaked at 919 in 1920; 402 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Greeley Center came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greeley Center.

Read it all →

Greeley Center was established as a village in 1887 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. It was named from its position near the geographical center of Greeley county. Greeley Center was named after Horace Greeley, a politician and journalist. The first people to be settled there were in 1871.

In 1890, the seat of Greeley County was transferred to Greeley Center from Scotia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greeley Center, 1885 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Spading post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Spading post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Greeley post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 919
  7. 1954On 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

Greeley Center on the map, 1954 to 1985

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

Greeley Center on the 1954 USGS mapGreeley Center on the 1985 USGS map1954Greeley 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 Greeley Center.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Greeley Center

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Greeley County Courthouse
Greeley County Courthouse
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Greeley County CourthouseClassical Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Spading, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Spading
1885–1887
Greeley
1887–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Greeley

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

Questions about Greeley Center’s history

What is on the National Register in Greeley Center?

One place: the Greeley County Courthouse (listed 1990).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.