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History · Imlay

Imlay’s post office opened in 1908, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1956 on.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Imlay began

When was Imlay founded?

1908

The Imlay post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 210118 years
Founding year: the first Imlay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Imlay’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Imlay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Imlay’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 viewInformal Remarks of the President in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Imlay, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Imlay yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Imlay is an unincorporated town in Pershing County, Nevada, United States. It has an elementary school, a general store, a post office, and a trading post. As of the 2010 census, the population was 171. It is a nearly abandoned railroad town, named for a nearby mine or for the civil engineer who surveyed the town circa 1907. Its most notable feature is a series of strange buildings called Thunder Mountain Monument. These structures were built as a monument to Native American culture by a World War II veteran who called himself Thunder. Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? public radio show featured Imlay as the "Town of the Week" on its December 5, 2009, show. They mentioned Thunder Mountain Mon…

Its first post office opened in 1908. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 171 to 210 (+23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Imlay, 1908 to 1956

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Post officeThe Imlay post office opens
  3. 1938In the archiveInformal Remarks of the President in
  4. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Imlay, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Informal Remarks of the President in1938Informal Remarks of the President in
1940s–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
Today6 recent
One of the American West's seemingly endless freight trains crosses the high desert near the town of Imlay2022One of the American West's seemingly endless freight …Building at Thunder Mountain Park 032015Building at Thunder Mountain Park 03California Zephyr West of Winnemucca NV2010California Zephyr West of Winnemucca NVEntering Puckerbrush Mill City Nevada2009Entering Puckerbrush Mill City NevadaImlay, Nevada2007Imlay, NevadaJack Rabbits on Unionville Road2005Jack Rabbits on Unionville Road
On the map

Imlay on the map, 1956 to 1987

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

Imlay on the 1956 USGS mapImlay on the 1987 USGS map1956Imlay 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 Imlay.

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.

Informal Remarks of the President in
Retake this viewInformal Remarks of the President in, 1938

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Imlay

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

See all →
Henry F. AshurstU.S. Senator from Arizona · b. 1874
M
Mario BautistaAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1993
B
Bill BerryAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1942
Vernon AlleyAmerican jazz bassist · b. 1915
Lute PeaseAmerican cartoonist · b. 1869

Questions about Imlay’s history

What year was Imlay founded?

The Imlay post office opened in 1908, 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 (6), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.