Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.
McCool Junction dates its founding to 1886 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
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 McCool Junction’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McCool Junction. 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 McCool Junction.
From Wikipedia’s history of McCool Junction.
McCool Junction, originally known as McCool, was platted in 1886 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named for Daniel McCool, a railroad official. By 1888 the town was at the junction of two railroads.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention McCool Junction, cut from the printed page as they were published.
existed at the time he grew to manhood and no man in tlie county is more familiar with the early events and the location of the historical spots than he. He attended the first school established in York county and later was a pupil in the village school at McCool Junction. At the age of twenty he went to Alliance, Nebraska, and after spending one year there, went to Denver, Colorado, where he was employed by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, working the last six years as air brakeman for that company at Tennessee Pass, the highest point of the road over the Rocky Mountains. In 1906 he returned to York county and took up farming. His splen-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
R., in buying its Right of Way through York County and it was through his influence' the road was built from Henderson east to McCool, and he secured the location of the village of McCool Junction (the road was first surveyed direct from Henderson to York). Mr. Smith was the first to place the town lots on the market.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska - York County - McCool Junction - ED 93-…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on McCool Junction’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 204 people in 1890 to 453 in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McCool Junction’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in McCool Junction itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
McCool Junction’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Niota, 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).
In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. McCool Junction’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 204 people here.
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 (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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