The story
Read it all →How Cope came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cope.
Cope Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Cope
Cope’s post office opened in 1894, and 88% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Cope Depot. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1900.
1894first post office
1on the National Register
88%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Cope began
When was Cope founded?
1894
The Cope post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 80 in 19002020 census: 37132 years
Founding year: the first Cope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Cope’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 Cope are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cope’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 280 in 1940; 37 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19203 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1979. Watch Cope change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cope’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cope’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Cope, census by census
Peaked at 280 in 1940; 37 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cope’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Cope, 1892 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Cope, decade by decade
2016
2015
2015
2015
2015
2004On the map
Cope on the map, 1920 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cope. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Bamberg sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cope.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Cope
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Cope Depot
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Movements1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Cope’s history
What year was Cope founded?
The Cope post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Cope?
One place: the Cope Depot (listed 2001).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.