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–Not graded
History · Emery

Emery’s post office opened in 1881, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1980 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Emery’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Emery began

When was Emery founded?

1881

The Emery post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Farmington (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 484145 years
Founding year: the first Emery post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Emery’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Emery’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Emery’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGene's Bar: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Emery came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Emery.

Read it all →

The town was named for Sloan Miller (S.M.) Emery who filed a claim for the land that included the original town site in 1879. There was first settlement in the 1880s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Emery, 1878 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Farmington post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Farmington post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Emery post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Born hereThomas H. Werdel is born here
  7. 1980In the archiveGene's Bar
By decade

Emery, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Gene's Bar1980Gene's Bar
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Emery2004SDMap-doton-Emery
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Gene's Bar
Retake this viewGene's Bar, 1980

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Emery’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Emery’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Farmington, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Farmington
1878–1881
Emery
1881–today
18701950today

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.

Pleasant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Emery’s history

What year was Emery founded?

The Emery post office opened in 1881, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.