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History · Viborg

Viborg’s post office opened in 1893, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Glud Theatre and the Stidworthy-Kemper House. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1900.

1893first post office
2on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Viborg began

When was Viborg founded?

1893

The Viborg post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Danville (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 222 in 19002020 census: 814133 years
Founding year: the first Viborg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Viborg’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 Viborg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1985. Watch Viborg change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Viborg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Viborg’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
On the map

Viborg on the map, 1898 to 1985

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

Viborg on the 1898 USGS mapViborg on the 1968 USGS mapViborg on the 1985 USGS map1898Parker sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Viborg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Viborg.

Read it all →

Founded by Danish Americans, the city is named after the Danish city of Viborg. The area was first settled by Danish migrants in the 1860s, founding a community known as Daneville. With the advent of the railway in 1893, a new settlement closer to the railway was created as Viborg. Viborg was incorporated as a city on August 25, 1903.

On June 7th, 1965, an F4 tornado passed just north of the town, killing a farmer and damaging several buildings in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Viborg, 1875 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Danville post office opens
  3. 1887Born hereAlvin Hansen is born here
  4. 1893Post officeThe Danville post office closes
  5. 1893Post officeThe Viborg post office opens
  6. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1905Born hereEmmett Nelson is born here
  9. 1916BuiltGlud Theatre is built
  10. 1946Born hereEldon Nygaard is born here
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.
Add from your album
On the National Register

2 historic places in Viborg

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
2007
Glud Theatre
Glud Theatre, built 1916Stidworthy-Kemper House
Buildings
All 2 listings
Glud TheatreBuilding · listed 2007Stidworthy-Kemper HouseBuilding · listed 2022

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

People over time

Viborg, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 832

Between 222 and 832 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Viborg

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Alvin HansenAmerican economist · b. 1887
Emmett NelsonMajor League Baseball pitcher · b. 1905
C
Crystal JohnsonAmerican attorney
E
Eldon NygaardAmerican politician · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Viborg’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Danville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Danville
1875–1893
Viborg
1893–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Viborg
Rose Hill

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.

Swan Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDaneville Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Viborg’s history

What year was Viborg founded?

The Viborg post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Viborg?

Two places: the Glud Theatre (listed 2007) and the Stidworthy-Kemper House (2022).

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 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.