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History · Olsburg

Olsburg’s post office opened in 1887, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Olsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Olsburg began

When was Olsburg founded?

1887

The Olsburg post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Olesburgh (1873), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 218139 years
Founding year: the first Olsburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Olsburg’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Olsburg’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Olsburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Olsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Olsburg.

Read it all →

Olsburg was laid out in the late 1870s. It was originally built up chiefly by Swedes. Olsburg was named for Ole Thrulson, a pioneer settler.

The first post office in Olsburg was founded in 1873, but the name of the post office was spelled Olesburgh until 1887.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Olsburg, 1873 to 1887

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Olesburgh post office opens
  3. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Pottawatomie County - Olsburg - ED …
  4. 1883Born hereJohn Wingblade is born here
  5. 1887Post officeThe Olesburgh post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Olsburg post office opens
By decade

Olsburg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Pottawatomie County - Olsburg - ED 75-418801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) -…
1890s–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
Today5 recent
20180531-RD-PJK-0727 TONED201820180531-RD-PJK-0727 TONED20180531-RD-PJK-0663 TONED201820180531-RD-PJK-0663 TONED20180531-RD-PJK-0634 TONED201820180531-RD-PJK-0634 TONED20180531-RD-PJK-0596 TONED201820180531-RD-PJK-0596 TONEDKSMap-doton-Olsburg2005KSMap-doton-Olsburg
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.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Pottawatomie County - Olsburg - ED 75-4
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Pottawatomie County - Olsburg - ED 75-4, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Olsburg’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Olesburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Olesburgh
1873–1887
Olsburg
1887–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Olsburg’s history

What year was Olsburg founded?

The Olsburg post office opened in 1887, 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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.