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History · Palmyra

Palmyra’s post office opened in 1862, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1880.

1862first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Palmyra began

When was Palmyra founded?

1862

The Palmyra post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 239 in 18802020 census: 534164 years
Founding year: the first Palmyra post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Palmyra’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 Palmyra are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1986. Watch Palmyra change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palmyra’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palmyra’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
On the map

Palmyra on the map, 1903 to 1986

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

Palmyra on the 1903 USGS mapPalmyra on the 1929 USGS mapPalmyra on the 1966 USGS mapPalmyra on the 1986 USGS map1903Weeping Water sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Palmyra.

The story

How Palmyra came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palmyra.

Read it all →

Palmyra was platted in 1870. Its name commemorates the ancient city of Palmyra.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palmyra, 1862 to 1928

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Post officeThe Palmyra post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1928Born hereDale Young is born here
By decade

Palmyra, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Palmyra, Nebraska downtown 22012Palmyra, Nebraska downtown 2Palmyra, Nebraska downtown 12012Palmyra, Nebraska downtown 1Palmyra, Nebraska Farmers and Merchants Bank from NE 12012Palmyra, Nebraska Farmers and Merchants Bank from NE 1NEMap-doton-Palmyra2005NEMap-doton-Palmyra
People over time

Palmyra, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 546

Between 239 and 546 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Palmyra’s history

What year was Palmyra founded?

The Palmyra post office opened in 1862, 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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.