Silver Springs’ post office opened in 1954, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #23 of 42 in Nevada. What drives it
Most of Silver Springs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Buckland Station. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1957 on.
From Silver Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Silver Springs began
When was Silver Springs founded?
1954
The Silver Springs post office opened in 1954, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Marshland (1886) and Weeks (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 5,62972 years
How historic is Silver Springs?
D
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Silver Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Silver Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Silver Springs is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #23 of 42 in Nevada. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Silver Springs’ overall grade.
Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Silver Springs’ 2.0 sits above most of its state (69% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Silver Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Silver Springs was established by Merle Stanley Peek and Ben Klassen, two Los Angeles businessmen. Peek was one of several salesmen hired by Klassen; Peek encouraged Klassen to invest in land development in Nevada. Klassen and Peek started a partnership called the Silver Springs Land Company, establishing Silver Springs. In October 1949 the two men bought 1,800 acres and advertised the development in Los Angeles newspapers. In 1952, Klassen, who had come to greatly dislike Peek, sold his share of the company to Phillip Hess for $150,000 and retired.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Silver Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Silver Springs 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 Silver Springs.
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 viewSouthern Pacific train leaving, 1987
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Silver Springs’ page.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Silver Springs’ history
What year was Silver Springs founded?
The Silver Springs post office opened in 1954, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Silver Springs rank for history?
Silver Springs is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #23 of 42 in Nevada. 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 Silver Springs?
One place: the Buckland Station (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Silver Springs?
0.0% of Silver Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2010
