The story so far
from the U.S. CensusBetween the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 383 to 349 (-9%). Half of its homes were built before 1965.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melrose yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Be one of the first
Start Melrose’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Melrose’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10By decade
Melrose, decade by decade
Before
2000
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Melrose is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Melrose has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Emil and Hannah Johnson House in Milbank, 4.4 miles away.
Melrose and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Melrose. Tap a dot.
How a place gets listed
1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Emil and Hannah Johnson House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Melrose?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Melrose’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.