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History · Meadow Grove

Meadow Grove dates to 1886, and 68% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the John Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick House. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1900.

1886founded
1on the National Register
68%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Meadow Grove began, and where its name came from

When was Meadow Grove founded?

1886

Meadow Grove dates its founding to 1886 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 237 in 19002020 census: 287140 years

How did Meadow Grove get its name?

Meadow Grove was named from a grove of trees in a meadow near the original town site.

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1870. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Meadow Grove’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 Meadow Grove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Meadow Grove’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 483 in 1930; 287 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Meadow Grove’s collection

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

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

How Meadow Grove came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Meadow Grove.

Read it all →

Meadow Grove was platted in 1886. It was named from a grove of trees in a meadow near the original town site.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Meadow Grove, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 483

Peaked at 483 in 1930; 287 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Timeline

Meadow Grove, 1870 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Deer Creek post office opens
  3. 1886
    FoundingMeadow Grove is established
  4. 1889Post officeThe Deer Creek post office closes
  5. 1889Post officeThe Meadow Grove post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903BuiltJohn Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick House is built
  8. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 483
  9. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Meadow Grove, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 32010Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 3Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 22010Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 2Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 12010Meadow Grove, Nebraska downtown 1NEMap-doton-Meadow Grove2005NEMap-doton-Meadow Grove
On the map

Meadow Grove on the map, 1963 to 1985

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

Meadow Grove on the 1963 USGS mapMeadow Grove on the 1985 USGS map1963Meadow Grove 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 Meadow Grove.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Meadow Grove

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
John Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick House
John Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick House, built 1903
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
John Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick HouseQueen Anne · Built 1903

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Meadow Grove’s post office has been open since 1889. Another post office, Deer Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Deer Creek
1870–1889
Meadow Grove
1889–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Meadow Grovelocale

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

Questions about Meadow Grove’s history

What year was Meadow Grove founded?

In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Meadow Grove’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1900 counted 237 people here.

What is on the National Register in Meadow Grove?

One place: the John Wesley and Grace Shafer Warrick House (listed 1990).

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.