The story
Read it all →How Riverton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Riverton.
A post office was established in Riverton in 1871. Riverton was incorporated as a village in 1880.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Riverton
Riverton’s post office opened in 1871, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1880.
1871first post office
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Riverton began
When was Riverton founded?
1871
The Riverton post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 426 in 18802020 census: 57155 years
Founding year: the first Riverton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Riverton’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 Riverton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Riverton’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Riverton on the map, 1897 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Riverton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1897Red Cloud sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Riverton.
By decade
Riverton, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?
2010
2005Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewNebraska City Bridge, Spanning Missouri River near Highway 2 between Nebraska & Iowa, Nebraska City, Otoe County, NE
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Riverton’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Riverton, census by census
Between 57 and 426 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Riverton’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Riverton
Nobody well known was born in Riverton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
A
Archie E. MitchellAmerican evangelical and missionary · b. 1918B
Barney KochAmerican baseball player · b. 1923K
Kid WillsonMajor League Baseball player · b. 1895Places that used to be
Places now gone
Riverton’s post office has been open since 1871.
Gone or out of use
Riverton Public Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Riverton’s history
What year was Riverton founded?
The Riverton post office opened in 1871, 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 (2), the Library of Congress (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.