The story
Read it all →How Ulmer came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ulmer.
The Williams House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Ulmer
Ulmer’s post office opened in 1880, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1900.
1880first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Ulmer began
When was Ulmer founded?
1880
The Ulmer post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 150 in 19002020 census: 65146 years
Founding year: the first Ulmer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Ulmer’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 Ulmer are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 199 in 1930; 65 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19193 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1982. Watch Ulmer change.Old housesHalf of Ulmer’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ulmer’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ulmer’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
Ulmer, census by census
Peaked at 199 in 1930; 65 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ulmer’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Ulmer on the map, 1919 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ulmer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Olar 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 Ulmer.
Timeline
Ulmer, 1880 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Ulmer, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2022Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Ulmer
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Ulmer’s history
What year was Ulmer founded?
The Ulmer post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (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.