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History · Longdale

Longdale’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Longdale was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1910.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Longdale began

When was Longdale founded?

1903

The Longdale post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cainville (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 296 in 19102020 census: 186123 years
Founding year: the first Longdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Longdale’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 Longdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 405 in 1980; 186 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Longdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Longdale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Longdale, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 405

Peaked at 405 in 1980; 186 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Longdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Longdale.

Read it all →

The town was named for Lucious Walter Long, the husband of Carrie M. Millerman, who had obtained a homestead in the Cheyenne-Arapaho Opening of April 19, 1892. The two married and made her homestead the town site. They donated 160 acres (65 ha) on the north side of their property to the Union Real Estate and Townsite Company, while retaining the southern side themselves, which they divided into residential and commercial lots. The Longs wanted to name their new community Longview, but agreed to change to Longdale to avoid confusion with the already existing community of Fairview.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Longdale, 1900 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Cainville post office opens
  3. 1903Post officeThe Cainville post office closes
  4. 1903Post officeThe Longdale post office opens
  5. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 405
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Longdale on the map, 1972 to 1986

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

Longdale on the 1972 USGS mapLongdale on the 1986 USGS map1972Longdale sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Longdale

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

See all →
Clarence NashAmerican voice actor · b. 1904
Nokie EdwardsAmerican musician · b. 1935
B
Byron HoustonAmerican basketball player · b. 1969
L
Loren C. BallAmerican astronomer · b. 1948
H
Herbert SouthworthAmerican hispanist · b. 1908
J
James BanningAmerican aviator · b. 1899
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Longdale’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Cainville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cainville
1900–1903
Longdale
1903–today
19001960today

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

Questions about Longdale’s history

What year was Longdale founded?

The Longdale post office opened in 1903, 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 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.