Its Register listings are the Chase County Courthouse and the Balcony House. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Imperial post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Imperial’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Imperial is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Imperial’s overall grade.
Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Imperial’s 9.0 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
The original town of Imperial was built on land homesteaded by Thomas Mercier and M. J. Goodrich. These men gave a town lot to anyone who would put up a building and help to start the town. Mercier was the first postmaster and took office on December 14, 1885.
The railroad right of way was graded to Imperial in 1888. The railroad reached Imperial on August 15, 1892. It was built by a division of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. This line left the main line near Culbertson and terminated in Imperial.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Imperial post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Imperial rank for history?
Imperial is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Imperial?
Two places: the Chase County Courthouse (listed 1990) and the Balcony House (2000).
How old are the homes in Imperial?
24% of Imperial’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1972.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
1940
1940
1940
2022
2022
2010
2010
2010
2005
2005
