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History · Odessa Township

Odessa Township’s post office opened in 1878

1878first post office
0on the National Register
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Quick answers

How Odessa Township began

When was Odessa Township founded?

1878

The Odessa Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Odessa (1878) and Dentonia (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 16148 years
Founding year: the first Odessa Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Odessa
1878–1888
Dentonia
1882–1903
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dentonia
Gone or out of use
Odessalocale
1cemetery inside Odessa Township
Odessa

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.

Erving TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEsbon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWebster TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIonia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Odessa Township’s history

What year was Odessa Township founded?

The Odessa Township post office opened in 1878, 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 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.