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History · Olney Township

Olney Township’s post office opened in 1841, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1860.

1841first post office
4on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Olney Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Olney Township began

When was Olney Township founded?

1841

The Olney Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1848.

First census: 1,435 in 18602020 census: 9,980185 years
Founding year: the first Olney Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1848.The full story ↓

What stands out about Olney Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1841: 185 years of Olney Township.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Olney Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Olney Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPhotographer Dwight Burnett of: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Olney Township, 1860 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860In the archivePhotographer Dwight Burnett of
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveInterior of Bowers Drug Store
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the National Register

4 listings protect 34 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
34
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Olney Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Olney Township.

Read it all →

Settlement of the Richland County area began around 1815 when Thaddeus Morehouse, a native of Vermont, arrived by wagon and built a log cabin along a stagecoach route that ran from Vincennes, Indiana to St. Louis. This log cabin operated as a hotel and tavern.

Richland County was organized as a county in 1841, when it was formed by a partitioning of Clay and Lawrence counties. There was some controversy regarding the location of the county seat; however, Olney was determined as the choice based on a donation of land and the central location. The name of the town Olney was suggested by Judge Aaron Shaw who desired to honor a friend, Nathan Olney. It was not until 1848 that Olney was incorporated as a village.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Olney Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Photographer Dwight Burnett of1860Photographer Dwight Burnett of
1900s1 item
Interior of Bowers Drug Store1900Interior of Bowers Drug Store
1910s–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
Today10 recent
Larchmound March 26 20202020Larchmound March 26 2020Richland County Courthouse2017Richland County CourthouseRobertRidgwayMarker2015RobertRidgwayMarkerRichland County Courthouse in2013Richland County Courthouse inThree houses on Elliott Street in2012Three houses on Elliott Street inOlney Carnegie Library2012Olney Carnegie LibraryLarchmound driveway2012Larchmound drivewayChestnut and Whittle in2012Chestnut and Whittle inAmbrose Hopkinson House2012Ambrose Hopkinson HouseSquirrels of Olney - Flickr - GregTheBusker2009Squirrels of Olney - Flickr - GregTheBusker
On the map

Olney Township on the map, 1949 to 1971

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

Olney Township on the 1949 USGS mapOlney Township on the 1971 USGS map1949Olney 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 Olney Township.

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.

Photographer Dwight Burnett of
Retake this viewPhotographer Dwight Burnett of, 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Olney Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000190019502000Peak: 9,115

Between 1,435 and 9,115 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Watertown
Gone or out of use
Bird SchoolschoolElwood SchoolschoolLiberty Lawn SchoolschoolOak Ridge SchoolschoolRitter SchoolschoolSodom SchoolschoolSunnyside SchoolschoolTotten SchoolschoolTroy Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Olney Township
CemeteryEbenezerFritschleLiberty LawnSugar Creek

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.

Madison TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNoble TownshipIts storyC+Preston TownshipIts storyCClaremont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCalhounIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Olney Township’s history

What year was Olney Township founded?

The Olney Township post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1848.

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.