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History · Roscoe

Roscoe’s post office opened in 1909, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Roscoe was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1949. Its Register listing is the Roscoe State Aid Bridge. Below: maps from 1897 on.

1909first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Roscoe began

When was Roscoe founded?

1909

The Roscoe post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 44117 years
Founding year: the first Roscoe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Roscoe’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 Roscoe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18974 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1985. Watch Roscoe change.Old housesHalf of Roscoe’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roscoe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roscoe’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

Roscoe on the map, 1897 to 1985

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

Roscoe on the 1897 USGS mapRoscoe on the 1900 USGS mapRoscoe on the 1971 USGS mapRoscoe on the 1985 USGS map1897Ogallala 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 Roscoe.

The story

How Roscoe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roscoe.

Read it all →

Roscoe got its start in the 1870s when the railroad was extended to that point.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Roscoe, 1897 to 1977

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe Roscoe post office opens
  5. 1977Post officeThe Roscoe post office closes
By decade

Roscoe, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Ghost Store, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13c2013Ghost Store, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13cElevator, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13a2013Elevator, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13aChamberlan's Store, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13b2013Chamberlan's Store, Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13b"Stories to Tell" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13m2013"Stories to Tell" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13m"Once a Home" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13i2013"Once a Home" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13i"Main Street" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13l2013"Main Street" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13l"Fixer Upper" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13k2013"Fixer Upper" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13k"Financial Collapse" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13f2013"Financial Collapse" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13f"Closed" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13d2013"Closed" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13d"Closed for Business" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-132013"Closed for Business" Roscoe, Nebraska 7-24-13Roscoe, Nebraska 22011Roscoe, Nebraska 2Roscoe, Nebraska 12011Roscoe, Nebraska 1
On the National Register

1 historic place in Roscoe

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Roscoe State Aid Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Steel cantilevered stringer1
Roscoe State Aid BridgeSteel cantilevered stringer

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Roscoe

Nobody well known was born in Roscoe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gary GlickAmerican football player · b. 1930
Cliff MapesAmerican baseball player · b. 1922
B
Bill CallihanAmerican football player · b. 1916
James Theodore RichmondAmerican librarian · b. 1890
J
John MasonAmerican ceramic artist · b. 1927
M. Miriam HerreraAmerican writer · b. 1963
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Roscoe had its own post office from 1909 to 1977.

Roscoe
1909–1977
19001960today

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

Questions about Roscoe’s history

What year was Roscoe founded?

The Roscoe post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Roscoe?

One place: the Roscoe State Aid Bridge (listed 1992).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (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.