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B−History
History · Olive Hill

Olive Hill’s post office opened in 1838, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Olive Hill was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Olive Hill C & O Depot. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.

1838first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Olive Hill began

When was Olive Hill founded?

1838

The Olive Hill post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1884. Another post office, Counts Cross Roads (1873), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 56 in 18802020 census: 1,580188 years

How historic is Olive Hill?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Olive Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1884.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Olive Hill’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olive Hill is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Olive Hill’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.9% of homes (±3.6) · typical KY town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 6.1 per 10,000 residents · typical KY town 29.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder

Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Olive Hill’s 6.1 sits near the middle of its state (35% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1884.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Olive Hill’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 Olive Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,539 in 1980; 1,580 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Olive Hill.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Olive Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Olive Hill’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
People over time

Olive Hill, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,539

Peaked at 2,539 in 1980; 1,580 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Olive Hill, 1838 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Olive Hill post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Counts Cross Roads post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Born hereDan Jessee is born here
  6. 1935Post officeThe Counts Cross Roads post office closes
  7. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,539
The story

How Olive Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Olive Hill.

Read it all →

Olive Hill began as a rural trading post established by the Henderson brothers in the first part of the 19th century. Although Olive Hill was allegedly named by Elias P. Davis for his friend Thomas Oliver, there is no evidence to support this popular contention. In 1881, the town was moved from a hillside location to the current location in the Tygarts Creek valley, where the Elizabethtown, Lexington, and Big Sandy Railroad had laid tracks. The hillside location become known as Old Olive Hill and now serves as the city's residential area. On March 24, 1884, Olive Hill incorporated as a city and served as the county seat of the short-lived Beckham County from February 9 to April 29, 1904.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Olive Hill, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Olive Hill High School2022Olive Hill High SchoolRailroad west of Cross in2014Railroad west of Cross inRailroad east of Cross in2014Railroad east of Cross inInterstate 642014Interstate 64Interstate 642014Interstate 64Carter Caves Trail Drawbrigde2013Carter Caves Trail DrawbrigdeOlive Hill Depot2012Olive Hill DepotJohn "Hop" Brown Memorial Park2012John "Hop" Brown Memorial ParkKYMap-doton-OliveHill2004KYMap-doton-OliveHill
On the map

Olive Hill on the map, 1950 to 1970

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

Olive Hill on the 1950 USGS mapOlive Hill on the 1962 USGS mapOlive Hill on the 1970 USGS map1950Olive Hill sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Olive Hill.

Every building

Olive Hill, building by building, 1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Olive Hill fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Olive Hill

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Olive Hill C & O Depot
Olive Hill C & O Depot
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Prairie School1
Olive Hill C & O DepotPrairie School

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

Places that used to be

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

Olive Hill’s post office has been open since 1838. Another post office, Counts Cross Roads, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Olive Hill
1838–today
Counts Cross Roads
1873–1935
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cold Springs
Gone or out of use
Counts Crossroads Post Officepost officeHenderson Branch Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Olive Hill
Olive Hill

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

Questions about Olive Hill’s history

What year was Olive Hill founded?

The Olive Hill post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1884.

How does Olive Hill rank for history?

Olive Hill is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Olive Hill?

One place: the Olive Hill C & O Depot (listed 1992).

How old are the homes in Olive Hill?

5% of Olive Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1975.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.