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BHistory
History · St. Paul

St. Paul’s post office opened in 1871, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. Paul’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How St. Paul began

When was St. Paul founded?

1871

The St. Paul post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 482 in 18802020 census: 2,416155 years

How historic is St. Paul?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first St. Paul post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. Paul’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Paul is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Paul’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194029.6% of homes (±7.0) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder

Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so St. Paul’s 3.6 sits below most of its state (28% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about St. Paul’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.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch St. Paul change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Paul’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewShelterbelts: Windbreaks - Nebraska: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

St. Paul on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

St. Paul on the 1899 USGS mapSt. Paul on the 1960 USGS mapSt. Paul on the 1985 USGS map1899St Paul 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 St. Paul.

The story

How St. Paul came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Paul.

Read it all →

St. Paul was founded by two young surveyors, James N. and Nicholas J. Paul, who had been surveying in Nebraska and the surrounding areas as the land opened to settlers. Struck by the beauty and the prospects of the Loup valley, they took out homesteads, successfully petitioned the state legislature to form a new county to be known as Howard County, and laid out the townsite. They brought the first settlers to the county in March 1871 and established the seat of government in St. Paul. Stillman Hazeltine put up the first building for a general store and town hall in the summer of 1871. That first building burned a few years later and the brick building which replaced it is still in use with his name and date 1871 on the front.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

St. Paul, 1871 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Saint Paul post office opens
  3. 1897Born hereClarence Shortridge Irvine is born here
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1945Born hereRandy Rasmussen is born here
  7. 1963Born hereJon Lynn Christensen is born here
  8. 1966Born hereReynold Nesiba is born here
By decade

St. Paul, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Shelterbelts: Windbreaks - NebraskaDate?Shelterbelts: Windbreaks - Nebraska
Today6 recent
St. Paul Nebraska September 20182018St. Paul Nebraska September 2018St Paul Nebraska aerial2014St Paul Nebraska aerialSaint Paul, Nebraska downtown 22010Saint Paul, Nebraska downtown 2Saint Paul, Nebraska downtown 12010Saint Paul, Nebraska downtown 1Nebraska baseball museum2010Nebraska baseball museumNEMap-doton-St Paul2005NEMap-doton-St Paul
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.

Shelterbelts: Windbreaks - Nebraska
Retake this viewShelterbelts: Windbreaks - Nebraska

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in St. Paul

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
1990
Howard County Courthouse
Howard County Courthouse
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Howard County CourthouseClassical Revival

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

People over time

St. Paul, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500188019001920194019601980200020202,416

Grew from 482 people in 1880 to 2,416 in 2020, 5 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in St. Paul

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

See all →
Jon Lynn ChristensenAmerican politician · b. 1963
R
Randy RasmussenAmerican football player · b. 1945
Clarence Shortridge Irvine(1897-1975) American aviator · b. 1897
R
Reynold NesibaMember of the South Dakota Senate · b. 1966
T
Tim RotherAmerican football defensive tackle · b. 1965
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Paul

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

Questions about St. Paul’s history

What year was St. Paul founded?

The St. Paul post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does St. Paul rank for history?

St. Paul is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in St. Paul?

One place: the Howard County Courthouse (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in St. Paul?

30% of St. Paul’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1971.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.