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History · Spencer

Spencer’s post office opened in 1891, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1900.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Spencer began

When was Spencer founded?

1891

The Spencer post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 135 in 19002020 census: 408135 years
Founding year: the first Spencer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Spencer’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 728 in 1920; 408 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Spencer’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spencer’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Spencer, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 728

Peaked at 728 in 1920; 408 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Spencer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spencer.

Read it all →

Spencer was platted in 1891. Sources vary whether it is named for an army captain, or for George E. Spencer, a U.S. senator from Alabama.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spencer, 1891 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Spencer post office opens
  3. 1894Born hereJohn C. Whitehorn is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1913Born hereBernie Scherer is born here
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 728
  7. 1922In the archiveMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
  8. 1935Born hereRichard D. Johnson is born here
  9. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Spencer, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH1922Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 102010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 10Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 092010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 09Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 082010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 08Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 072010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 07Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 062010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 06Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 052010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 05Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 042010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 04Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 032010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 03Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 022010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 02Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 012010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 01NEMap-doton-Spencer2005NEMap-doton-Spencer
On the map

Spencer on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spencer.

Spencer on the 1986 USGS map1986Atkinson sheet · 1:100,000

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

Then & 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.

Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
Retake this viewMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH, 1922

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Spencer’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Spencer

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Bernie SchererAmerican football player · b. 1913
J
John C. WhitehornAmerican psychiatric educator · b. 1894
R
Richard D. JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1935
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Spencer’s post office has been open since 1891.

Gone or out of use
Spencerlocale
1cemetery inside Spencer
Saint Marys

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

Questions about Spencer’s history

What year was Spencer founded?

The Spencer post office opened in 1891, 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 (12), 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.