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BHistory
History · Valentine

Valentine’s post office opened in 1882, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #35 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
5on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Valentine’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Valentine began, and where its name came from

When was Valentine founded?

1882

The Valentine post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883.

First census: 811 in 19002020 census: 2,633144 years

How did Valentine get its name?

Valentine was named for Edward K. Valentine, a Nebraska representative.

How historic is Valentine?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Valentine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Valentine’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Valentine is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #35 of 57 in Nebraska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Valentine’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.9% of homes (±7.8) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register5 listings, 19.0 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 39%

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 Valentine’s 19.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±7.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1883 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Valentine’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.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valentine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valentine’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 viewBird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Mi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

5 historic places in Valentine

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
F. M. Walcott House
F. M. Walcott HouseValentine Public SchoolCherry County CourthouseUS Post Office-ValentineBorman Bridge
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Queen Anne1
Romanesque Revival1
Romanesque1
Moderne1
F. M. Walcott HouseVernacular
Valentine Public SchoolQueen Anne
Cherry County CourthouseRomanesque
US Post Office-ValentineModerne
Borman BridgePin-connected Pratt through truss

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

The story

How Valentine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Valentine.

Read it all →

Valentine was founded in 1882. The Valentine post office was established on December 4, 1882. The Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was extended to that point and train service began on April 1, 1883. It was named for Edward K. Valentine, a Nebraska representative.

As late as 1967, Valentine was split between two time zones. According to a news report, "The mountain and central time zones meet at the center of Main Street, so an hour separates the two curb lines." According to the report, when clocks were required to be set back one hour for daylight saving time, Valentine's post office (which was in the central zone) split the difference and turned back its clock by half an hour.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Valentine, 1882 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Valentine post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908In the archiveBird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Minnekadusa Lake
  5. 1943Born hereTedd Gassman is born here
  6. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Valentine, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Bird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Minnekadusa Lake1908Bird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Minnekadusa Lake
1910s–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
Cieux2013CieuxFrosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska parking2012Frosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska parkingFrosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska menu2012Frosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska menuFrosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska building2012Frosty Drive-In, Valentine, Nebraska buildingHills on the Niobrara R PA1205942011Hills on the Niobrara R PA120594Valentine, Nebraska street sign2010Valentine, Nebraska street signValentine, Nebraska Main from 2nd 22010Valentine, Nebraska Main from 2nd 2Valentine, Nebraska Main from 2nd 12010Valentine, Nebraska Main from 2nd 1Valentine, Nebraska Main from 1st2010Valentine, Nebraska Main from 1stCasey's General Store2010Casey's General StoreNEMap-doton-Valentine2005NEMap-doton-Valentine
On the map

Valentine on the map, 1950 to 1983

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

Valentine on the 1950 USGS mapValentine on the 1983 USGS map1950Valentine 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 Valentine.

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.

Bird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Minnekadusa Lake
Retake this viewBird's eye view of Valentine, Neb. & Minnekadusa Lake, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Valentine, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,875

Between 811 and 2,875 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Valentine’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Littles Trailer CourtSweetheart Trailer Court
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Valentine
MinnechaduzaMount Hope

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

Questions about Valentine’s history

What year was Valentine founded?

The Valentine post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.

How does Valentine rank for history?

Valentine is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #35 of 57 in Nebraska. 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 Valentine?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the F. M. Walcott House (listed 1982, the first), 1 historic district, the Cherry County Courthouse, with 1 contributing buildings, and 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Valentine?

16% of Valentine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.