The story
Read it all →How Cady came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cady.
The town was named for Jacob Cady, who brought his family from Vermont circa 1850 to establish a saw mill in the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Cady
Cady’s post office opened in 1874, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1946 on.
1874first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Cady began
When was Cady founded?
1874
The Cady post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hay Creek (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 880152 years
Founding year: the first Cady post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Cady’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cady’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cady’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Cady, 1874 to 1946
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people 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 albumOn the map
Cady on the map, 1946 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cady. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1946Knapp sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cady.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Cady
Nobody well known was born in Cady itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Cady had its own post office from 1874 to 1879. Another post office, Hay Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cady
Hay Creek
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Cady and Lucas SchoolschoolCady Creek SchoolschoolCady SchoolschoolDenver SchoolschoolHighland Ridge SchoolschoolPlainview Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Cady
Saint Michael
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.
Questions about Cady’s history
What year was Cady founded?
The Cady post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.