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History · Estelline

Estelline’s post office opened in 1879, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Hoffelt Drug Store and the Estelline Bandstand and Gazebo Park. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1890.

1879first post office
2on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Estelline began

When was Estelline founded?

1879

The Estelline post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 210 in 18902020 census: 749147 years
Founding year: the first Estelline post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Estelline’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 Estelline are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Estelline’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Estelline’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Estelline’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 Estelline came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Estelline.

Read it all →

A post office was first established at Estelline in 1879. Estelline was platted in 1882. The city was named for a local farmer's daughter.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Estelline, 1879 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Estelline post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911BuiltHoffelt Drug Store is built
  5. 1927BuiltEstelline Bandstand and Gazebo Park is built
  6. 1955Born hereJulie Gerberding is born here
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Estelline, decade by decade

Today3 recent
EstellineWatertower2022EstellineWatertowerHoffelt Drug Store - 20172017Hoffelt Drug Store - 2017SDMap-doton-Estelline2004SDMap-doton-Estelline
On the map

Estelline on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Estelline on the 1970 USGS mapEstelline on the 1985 USGS map1970Estelline sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Estelline.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Estelline

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
Estelline Bandstand and Gazebo Park
Hoffelt Drug Store, built 1911Estelline Bandstand and Gazebo Park, built 1927
BuildingsStructures
Hoffelt Drug StoreBuilt 1911
All 2 listings
Estelline Bandstand and Gazebo ParkStructure · listed 1999

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

People over time

Estelline, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 768

Between 210 and 768 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Estelline’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Estelline’s post office has been open since 1879.

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Estelline
Estelline CityHillcrestSaint Francis de Sales Catholic

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

Questions about Estelline’s history

What year was Estelline founded?

The Estelline post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Estelline?

Two places: the Hoffelt Drug Store (listed 2008) and the Estelline Bandstand and Gazebo Park (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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.