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History · Defiance

Defiance’s post office opened in 1889, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1930 on.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Defiance began

When was Defiance founded?

1889

The Defiance post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 196137 years
Founding year: the first Defiance post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Defiance’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 Defiance are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Defiance’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Defiance’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Defiance’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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The story so far

Defiance, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 239 to 196 (-18%).

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

Defiance on the map, 1930 to 1994

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

Defiance on the 1930 USGS mapDefiance on the 1968 USGS mapDefiance on the 1973 USGS mapDefiance on the 1981 USGS mapDefiance on the 1994 USGS map1930Broad Top 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 Defiance.

Questions about Defiance’s history

What year was Defiance founded?

The Defiance post office opened in 1889, 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 →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.