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History · Longwood

Longwood’s post office opened in 1873, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1963 on.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Longwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Longwood began

When was Longwood founded?

1873

The Longwood post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Popple (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 877153 years
Founding year: the first Longwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Longwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Longwood.

Read it all →

The outline of the six mile square that would become Longwood was first surveyed in June 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government. Then in December 1848 another crew marked all the section corners in the township, walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Longwood, 1873 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Longwood post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Popple post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Popple post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Longwood post office closes
  7. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1968In the archiveBARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPROACH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Ch…
By decade

Longwood, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s6 items
BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPROACH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPROACH - Longwoo…CLOSE-UP BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968CLOSE-UP BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST - Longwood Bridge, …CLOSE-UP BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM APPROACH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968CLOSE-UP BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM APPROACH - Lon…DECK AND UNDERSIDE LOOKING WEST FROM EAST BANK - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968DECK AND UNDERSIDE LOOKING WEST FROM EAST BANK - Long…DETAIL OF CONNECTIONS ON MAIN TRUSS, LOOKING SOUTH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968DETAIL OF CONNECTIONS ON MAIN TRUSS, LOOKING SOUTH - …DETAIL OF NORTH PIN CONNECTION AND DECK, LOOKING EAST - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road1968DETAIL OF NORTH PIN CONNECTION AND DECK, LOOKING EAST…
1970s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Longwood on the map, 1963 to 1982

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

Longwood on the 1963 USGS mapLongwood on the 1982 USGS map1963Owen 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 Longwood.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

BARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPROACH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road
Retake this viewBARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPROACH - Longwood Bridge, Spanning Black River at Church Road, 1968

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Longwood’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Longwood

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

See all →
Andy NorthAmerican golfer, PGA Tour member, U.S. Open cha… · b. 1950
George Washington BlanchardAmerican politician · b. 1884
G
Gary ReinekeCanadian actor · b. 1940
J
Jerome P. TheisenAmerican Benedictine monk · b. 1930
Mary LazichAmerican politician · b. 1952
Michael PhairCanadian politician · b. 1950
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Longwood had its own post office from 1873 to 1905. Another post office, Popple, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Longwood
1873–1905
Popple
1880–1884
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Bethany ChurchchurchBrown ChurchchurchMoody SchoolschoolPoppe SchoolschoolSouth Bright SchoolschoolSpring Valley Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Longwood
Emanuel LutheranLongwood

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

Help out

Finish Longwood’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBARREL VIEW LOOKING EAST FROM WEST APPR…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Owen2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWitheeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHixonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen GroveIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townReseburgIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWarnerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Longwood’s history

What year was Longwood founded?

The Longwood post office opened in 1873, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.