Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lamar

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Lamar

Lamar’s post office opened in 1887

Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1930.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lamar began, and where its name came from

When was Lamar founded?

1887

The Lamar post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lenox (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 122 in 19302020 census: 28139 years

How did Lamar get its name?

Lamar was named for Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, a former Confederate soldier and diplomat who wrote the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession and who served as United States Secretary of the Interior in the Grover Cleveland administration.

Founding year: the first Lamar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lamar’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 Lamar are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lamar’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lamar’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lamar came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lamar.

Read it all →

Lamar was laid out at its current site in 1887 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, a former Confederate soldier and diplomat who wrote the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession and who served as United States Secretary of the Interior in the Grover Cleveland administration.

A post office was established at Lamar in 1887, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1995.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lamar, 1886 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Lenox post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Lenox post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Lamar post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lamar, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Lamar, Nebraska from SE 12013Lamar, Nebraska from SE 1Lamar, Nebraska fire station 12013Lamar, Nebraska fire station 1Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (4)2013Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (4)Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (3)2013Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (3)Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (2)2013Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (2)Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (1)2013Lamar, Nebraska Pawnee Street (1)
On the map

Lamar on the map, 1961 to 1973

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

Lamar on the 1961 USGS mapLamar on the 1973 USGS map1961Lamar 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 Lamar.

People over time

Lamar, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 122

Between 19 and 122 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Lamar’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Lenox, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lenox
1886–1887
Lamar
1887–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Lamar’s history

What year was Lamar founded?

The Lamar post office opened in 1887, 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 →
Start a conversation
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 (6), 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.