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History · Union

Union’s post office opened in 1861, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Union Jail. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1900.

1861first post office
1on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Union began

When was Union founded?

1861

The Union post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 282 in 19002020 census: 195165 years
Founding year: the first Union post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Union’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 Union are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Union’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 364 in 1940; 195 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union’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
The story

How Union came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Union.

Read it all →

Settlement in southeastern Cass County dates from the mid-1850s, and a scattered community known as Stringtown stood along Weeping Water Creek before Union was founded. The town itself began with the railroad: in 1887 the Missouri Pacific Railroad surveyed a line between Nebraska City and Lincoln across the county, and a store opened at the site that year. The Pleasant Grove post office was moved to the new rail point in 1888, the same year that William Todd began publishing the weekly Union Ledger.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Union, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 364

Peaked at 364 in 1940; 195 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Timeline

Union, 1861 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Union post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereHarry Smith is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 364
By decade

Union, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Union, Nebraska from W 12012Union, Nebraska from W 1Union, Nebraska downtown 32012Union, Nebraska downtown 3Union, Nebraska downtown 22012Union, Nebraska downtown 2Union, Nebraska downtown 12012Union, Nebraska downtown 1NEMap-doton-Union2005NEMap-doton-Union
On the map

Union on the map, 1935 to 1966

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

Union on the 1935 USGS mapUnion on the 1940 USGS mapUnion on the 1966 USGS map1935Nehawka sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Union

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
2006
Union Jail
Union Jail
Buildings
Union JailBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Union’s post office has been open since 1861.

Gone or out of use
Union Schoolschool

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

Questions about Union’s history

What year was Union founded?

The Union post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Union?

One place: the Union Jail (listed 2006).

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 (5), 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.