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History · Vanleer

Vanleer’s post office opened in 1891, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1920.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vanleer began

When was Vanleer founded?

1891

The Vanleer post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1915. Another post office, Mc Kee (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 180 in 19202020 census: 374135 years
Founding year: the first Vanleer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1915.

What stands out about Vanleer’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 Vanleer are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vanleer’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Vanleer, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Vanleer yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Vanleer is a town in Dickson County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, Vanleer had a population of 374. The town is approximately 49 miles west of Nashville and is located within the city's greater metropolitan area. The town is named for Anthony Wayne Van Leer, onetime operator of the iron works in nearby Cumberland Furnace.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 395 to 374 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Vanleer, 1871 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Born hereMary Magdalena Lewis Tate is born here
  3. 1890Post officeThe Mc Kee post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Mc Kee post office closes
  5. 1891Post officeThe Vanleer post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Born herePaul Hinson is born here
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Vanleer on the map, 1958 to 1983

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

Vanleer on the 1958 USGS mapVanleer on the 1983 USGS map1958Vanleer 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 Vanleer.

People over time

Vanleer, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 401

Between 180 and 401 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Vanleer

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

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P
Paul HinsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1904
Mary Magdalena Lewis TateAmerican evangelist · b. 1871
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Vanleer’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Mc Kee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mc Kee
1890–1891
Vanleer
1891–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Antioch Cemeterychurch
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vanleer
KeeleStoryThomasVanleer

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

Questions about Vanleer’s history

What year was Vanleer founded?

The Vanleer post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1915.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.