Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1900.
The Spalding post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Halifax (1875) and Spaulding (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 878 in 1920; 408 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spalding’s Wikipedia page.
Spalding’s post office has been open since 1894. Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Spalding.
Spalding was originally called Halifax, and under the latter name was founded in 1875 by a colony of Irish Catholics. It was renamed in 1881 in honor of bishop John Lancaster Spalding.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltSt. Michael's Catholic Church Complex is built
In the archiveNebraskaBuickDealerDriveOut
In the archiveBuickSpaldingOutside
Born hereTompall Glaser is born here
Born hereJim Glaser is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spalding. 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 Spalding.
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 Spalding’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Spalding post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Three places: the St. Michael's Catholic Church Complex (listed 1983), the Spalding Power Plant and Dam (1998) and the First Presbyterian Church (2004).
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 (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1913
1913
c. 1920
