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History · Harrison

Harrison’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Harrison was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1982 on.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Harrison began

When was Harrison founded?

1888

The Harrison post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Jeffris (1891) and Bundy (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 828138 years
Founding year: the first Harrison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Harrison’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 Harrison are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Harrison, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harrison’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harrison’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Harrison had its own post office from 1888 to 1894. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Harrison
1888–1894
Jeffris
1891–1930
Bundy
1903–1915
Harrison
1907–1931
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BundyJeffris
Gone or out of use
Elm City Schoolschool

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

The story

How Harrison came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harrison.

Read it all →

The two six-mile squares that would become Harrison were first surveyed in July and August 1851 by a crew working for the U.S. government. In November and December 1854 another crew marked the section corners of the southern six miles, walking through the woods and wading the streams, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description for the southern six miles:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harrison, 1888 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Harrison post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Jeffris post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Harrison post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Post officeThe Bundy post office opens
  7. 1915Post officeThe Bundy post office closes
  8. 1930Post officeThe Jeffris post office closes
  9. 1982On 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

Harrison on the map, 1982 to 1990

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

Harrison on the 1982 USGS mapHarrison on the 1990 USGS map1982Harrison 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 Harrison.

Famous people

Famous people close to Harrison

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

See all →
W
Wendy BoglioliAmerican swimmer · b. 1955
D
Dale WassermanAmerican playwright · b. 1914
Jay LeggettAmerican actor, improvisational comedian, produ… · b. 1963
Mike WebsterAmerican football player · b. 1952
J
Justin Orvel SchmidtAmerican entomologist · b. 1947
Carl R. EklundAmerican ornithologist · b. 1909
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

EnterpriseIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrescentIts storyC−KingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRussellIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSkanawanIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParrishIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Harrison’s history

What year was Harrison founded?

The Harrison post office opened in 1888, 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 →
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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 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.