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History · Colburn

Colburn’s post office opened in 1895, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1990.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Colburn began

When was Colburn founded?

1895

The Colburn post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Huron (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 731 in 19902020 census: 892131 years
Founding year: the first Colburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Colburn’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Colburn.

Read it all →

The outlines of the 6-mile squares that would become Colburn were surveyed from 1847 into the early 1850s by crews working for the U.S. government. In November 1849 a crew marked all the section corners of the 6-mile square that is now entirely within Colburn, walking the woods and swamps on foot, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Colburn, 1888 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Huron post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Colburn post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Colburn post office closes
  6. 1909Post officeThe Huron post office closes
  7. 1951On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Colburn on the map, 1951 to 1980

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

Colburn on the 1951 USGS mapColburn on the 1973 USGS mapColburn on the 1980 USGS map1951Cornell sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Colburn, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 892

Between 727 and 892 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Colburn

Nobody well known was born in Colburn itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Andy NorthAmerican golfer, PGA Tour member, U.S. Open cha… · b. 1950
G
Gary ReinekeCanadian actor · b. 1940
D
Dave CahillAmerican football player · b. 1941
Robert Whitney BurnsUnited States general · b. 1908
B
Bruce F. BeilfussAmerican judge · b. 1915
L
Larry KrauseAmerican football player · b. 1948
Places that used to be

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

Colburn had its own post office from 1895 to 1907. Another post office, Huron, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Huron
1888–1909
Colburn
1895–1907
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrownvilleHuron
Gone or out of use
Pike Lake SchoolschoolPopple Hill SchoolschoolSunnyview SchoolschoolWhite Pine Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Colburn
Yellow River

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.

EstellaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArthur1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRubyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTaftIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDelmarIts storyBAuroraIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Colburn’s history

What year was Colburn founded?

The Colburn post office opened in 1895, 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 Wikipedia, 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.