The story
Read it all →How Tobias came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Tobias.
Tobias was laid out in 1884 when the railroad was extended to the area. It was named for Tobias Castor, a local settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Tobias
Tobias’ post office opened in 1884, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1890.
1884first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Tobias began, and where its name came from
When was Tobias founded?
1884
The Tobias post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Atlanta (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 539 in 18902020 census: 114142 years
How did Tobias get its name?
Tobias was named for Tobias Castor, a local settler.
Founding year: the first Tobias post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
What stands out about Tobias’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Tobias’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tobias’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Tobias, census by census
Peaked at 672 in 1900; 114 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tobias’ Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Tobias, 1871 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Tobias, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1910s1 item
1920s–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
2011
2011
2011
2005On the map
Tobias on the map, 1961 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tobias. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Tobias sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tobias.
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.
Retake this viewTobias, Nebraska (1913), 1913
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tobias’ page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Tobias
Nobody well known was born in Tobias itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Tobias’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Atlanta, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Atlanta
Tobias
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Tobias’ history
What year was Tobias founded?
The Tobias post office opened in 1884, 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 (5), 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.