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–Not graded
History · Bell

Bell’s post office opened in 1902, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

1902first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
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Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bell began

When was Bell founded?

1902

The Bell post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 355124 years
Founding year: the first Bell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bell had its own post office from 1902 to 1906.

Bell
1902–1906
Cornucopia
1902–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cornucopia
Gone or out of use
Siskiwit Massacre Historical Sitelocale
1cemetery inside Bell
Bell

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.

CornucopiaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClover1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBayfield6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBayviewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashburnIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bell’s history

What year was Bell founded?

The Bell post office opened in 1902, 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 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.