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Lorenzo, NEPhoto: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Lorenzo

Lorenzo’s post office opened in 1916

Below: maps from 1972 on.

1916first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Lorenzo began

When was Lorenzo founded?

1916

The Lorenzo post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 36110 years
Founding year: the first Lorenzo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lorenzo’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lorenzo’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Lorenzo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lorenzo.

Read it all →

Lorenzo was a depot on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. A post office was established at Lorenzo in 1916, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1933.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lorenzo, 1916 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1916Post officeThe Lorenzo post office opens
  3. 1933Post officeThe Lorenzo post office closes
  4. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lorenzo, decade by decade

On the map

Lorenzo on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Lorenzo on the 1972 USGS mapLorenzo on the 1985 USGS map1972Lorenzo 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 Lorenzo.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lorenzo

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

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Lorenzo had its own post office from 1916 to 1933.

Lorenzo
1916–1933
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Lorenzo Post Officepost officePhelps Airportairport

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

Questions about Lorenzo’s history

What year was Lorenzo founded?

The Lorenzo post office opened in 1916, 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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.