The story
Read it all →How Max came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Max.
The first settlement at Max was made in 1880. The community named itself in honor of the postmaster, Max Monivisin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Max
Max’s post office opened in 1881, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1962 on.
1881first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Max began
When was Max founded?
1881
The Max post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 50145 years
Founding year: the first Max post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Max’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 Max’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Max’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.By decade
Max, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2017On the map
Max on the map, 1962 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Max. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Max sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Max.
Questions about Max’s history
What year was Max founded?
The Max post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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.