Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Valparaiso

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Valparaiso

Valparaiso’s post office opened in 1870, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Quick answers

How Valparaiso began

When was Valparaiso founded?

1870

The Valparaiso post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 300 in 18802020 census: 595156 years
Founding year: the first Valparaiso post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Valparaiso’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 Valparaiso are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1982. Watch Valparaiso change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valparaiso’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valparaiso’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
On the map

Valparaiso on the map, 1899 to 1982

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

Valparaiso on the 1899 USGS mapValparaiso on the 1969 USGS mapValparaiso on the 1982 USGS map1899Wahoo 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 Valparaiso.

The story

How Valparaiso came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Valparaiso.

Read it all →

The early history of Valparaiso is unclear. It first appeared on an 1863 map. Valparaiso is derived from a Spanish name meaning "vale of paradise". Valparaiso was incorporated in 1880.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Valparaiso, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Valparaiso, Nebraska 2nd from Spruce 22010Valparaiso, Nebraska 2nd from Spruce 2Valparaiso, Nebraska 2nd from Spruce 12010Valparaiso, Nebraska 2nd from Spruce 1NEMap-doton-Valparaiso2005NEMap-doton-Valparaiso
People over time

Valparaiso, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 614

Between 300 and 614 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Valparaiso

Nobody well known was born in Valparaiso itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
George Wells BeadleAmerican geneticist · b. 1903
Darryl F. ZanuckAmerican film producer · b. 1902
Howard HansonAmerican composer, conductor, educator and musi… · b. 1896
Sam CrawfordAmerican Hall of Fame baseball player and coach · b. 1880
A
Alfredo Ernest NovakCatholic bishop · b. 1930
J
Jerome HanusAmerican Benedictine monk and archbishop · b. 1940

Questions about Valparaiso’s history

What year was Valparaiso founded?

The Valparaiso post office opened in 1870, 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 (3), 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.