Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Kerby

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 · Kerby

Kerby’s post office opened in 1856, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the William and Nannie Nauke House. Below: maps from 1954 on.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kerby began

When was Kerby founded?

1856

The Kerby post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 628170 years
Founding year: the first Kerby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kerby’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 Kerby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kerby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kerby’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
The story

How Kerby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kerby.

Read it all →

Kerby was named for James Kerby (or Kerbey, as he sometimes spelled his name). The community was founded during the heyday of Josephine County gold mining and went through numerous name changes (and various spellings) in its early years. When Josephine County was established on January 22, 1856, a new county seat was to be chosen in the next county election. The original county seat was a place called "Sailor Diggings" (which was eventually renamed Waldo). One of the polling places listed was called "Kirbey's Ranch". James Kerby and Samuel Hicks, partners in a general mercantile and supply business, probably founded the town of "Kerbeyville" for the county seat race, and the town was selected in the election of June 1857.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kerby, 1856 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Kerby post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1965Post officeThe Kerby post office closes
By decade

Kerby, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Naucke House2013Naucke House
On the map

Kerby on the map, 1954 to 1996

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

Kerby on the 1954 USGS mapKerby on the 1989 USGS mapKerby on the 1996 USGS map1954Cave Junction 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 Kerby.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Kerby

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
William and Nannie Nauke House
William and Nannie Nauke House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
William and Nannie Nauke HouseVernacular

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Kerby

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

See all →
Ty BurrellAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1967
David AndersActor · b. 1981
Bill DellingerAmerican middle-distance runner · b. 1934
Ralph WrightAmerican actor · b. 1908
Daniel R. HokansonAmerican Army National Guard general · b. 1963
Ralph StackpoleAmerican artist · b. 1885
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Kerby had its own post office from 1856 to 1965.

Kerby
1856–1965
18501940today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Cave JunctionIts storyD−

Questions about Kerby’s history

What year was Kerby founded?

The Kerby post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Kerby?

One place: the William and Nannie Nauke House (listed 1999).

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 (1), 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.