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–Not graded
History · Sampson

16% of Sampson’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Sampson’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Sampson.

Read it all →

The 6-mile (10 km) squares that would become Sampson were first surveyed in June 1852 by a crew working for the U.S. government. That fall other crews marked all the section corners of the six mile squares, walking through the woods and wading the swamps, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description of the western six miles:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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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Famous people

Famous people close to Sampson

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

See all →
J. B. Van HollenAmerican lawyer · b. 1966
R
Ruth ClusenAmerican activist · b. 1922
L
Leona E. TylerAmerican psychologist · b. 1906
Edward O. ShawAmerican fighter ace · b. 1920
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Roger D. CraigDeputy sheriff of Dallas, Texas · b. 1936
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Tillinghast, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Chain Lake SchoolschoolHigh Bank SchoolschoolHighland SchoolschoolLakeland AirportairportLing SchoolschoolLong Lake SchoolschoolMaplewood SchoolschoolPine Grove SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolTillinghast SchoolschoolTwin Lake Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sampson
TillinghastTwin Lakes

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.

Birch CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDovreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBloomerIts storyC+Big BendIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRuskIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sampson’s history

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, 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.