Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1890.
The Hay Springs post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Moaklar (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Hay Springs was named from the production of hay in the valley east of the springs.
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 Hay Springs’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hay Springs.
Hay Springs was established in 1885 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named from the production of hay in the valley east of the springs. Hay Springs was incorporated as a village in November 1885.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 1,091 in 1950; 599 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hay Springs’ Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2021Christmas decorations abound in small-town America
2021The long-abandoned, c.-1920 Star Theatre, later named…
2021This hip-hop in
2021This old bank building
2021The local mortuary, complete with show windows displa…
2021This building
2021An abandoned building, apparently (according to its s…
2021The tiny Cravath Memorial Library building
2021Christmastime welcome sign
2013Hay Springs Camp Sheridan Spotted Tail HM
2012Hay Springs, Nebraska downtown 3
2012Hay Springs, Nebraska downtown 2
2012Hay Springs, Nebraska downtown 1
2005NEMap-doton-Hay SpringsEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hay Springs. 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 Hay Springs.
Nobody well known was born in Hay Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Hay Springs’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Moaklar, 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).
The Hay Springs post office opened in 1885, 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 (5), the Library of Congress (9), 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.
