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CHistory
History · Olney

Olney dates to 1832

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #144 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Olney was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 2000.

1832founded
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Olney’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Olney began

When was Olney founded?

1832

Olney dates its founding to 1832 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 31,438 in 20002020 census: 35,820194 years

How historic is Olney?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Olney’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olney is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #144 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Olney’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.6) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 45%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Olney’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1832.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Olney’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Olney, and 30 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1981. Watch Olney change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1878–1938.Deep rootsEstablished in 1832: 194 years of Olney.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Olney’s post office has been open since 1851. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mechanicsville
1826–1837
Olney
1851–today
Norbeck
1865–1905
Avenel
1883–1905
Norwood
1889–1905
Oakdale
1889–1905
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AnscroftAshley ManorAvenelBriars AcresBrookemanor EstatesBrookeville KnollsCamelback VillageCashell ManorCashell WoodsCherry ValleyCherrywoodGold Mine CrossingHallowellHighlands of OlneyManor OaksNorbeckNorbeck EstatesNorbrook VillageOakdaleOlney AcresOlney EstatesOlney MillOlney OaksOlney Square
Gone or out of use
Norwood Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Olney
Norbeck Memorial ParkSaint John's Episcopal

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

On the map

Olney on the map, 1908 to 1981

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

Olney on the 1908 USGS mapOlney on the 1923 USGS mapOlney on the 1945 USGS mapOlney on the 1950 USGS mapOlney on the 1971 USGS mapOlney on the 1981 USGS map1908Rockville 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.

By decade

Olney, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland1878Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including t…Map
1920s–1930s11 items
Mrs. Soper and her house1920Mrs. Soper and her houseMrs. Soper and her house1920Mrs. Soper and her houseMrs. Soper and her house1920Mrs. Soper and her houseMrs. Soper and her house1920Mrs. Soper and her houseHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 10-20 A. M. VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST (fro…1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 10-45 A. M. VIEW OF BARN FROM SOUTH.…1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 10-50 A. M. VIEW FROM THE SOUTHEAST …1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 9-45 A. M. VIEW OF SPRINGHOUSE AND D…1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …Home of Sec. Ickes1938Home of Sec. IckesSEC Ickes and bride return home. Olney, Md., June 22. Like a line from the song 'Knee Deep in Daisies and Head Over Hee…1938SEC Ickes and bride return home. Olney, Md., June 22.…Sec. Ickes and bride return from honeymoon. Washington, D.C., June 22. Returning from their European honeymoon to the I…1938Sec. Ickes and bride return from honeymoon. Washingto…
1940s–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
The story

How Olney came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Olney.

Read it all →

In 1763, Richard Brooke received a patent for a tract of land located in the Province of Maryland. Originally known as Mechanicsville or Fair Hill, the village which became Olney was established in 1800. The area was mostly farmland, but it soon began attracting artisans. Early residents Sarah Brooke and Dr. Charles Farquhar were devotees of the English poet William Cowper, and named their home after the poet's hometown of Olney in England. The area was later named for their home, which still stands and is known as the Olney House. In the town's center was a blacksmith, William Kelley's wheelwright shop, Canby's pottery factory, and a Benedict Duley's store.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Olney, 1826 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Mechanicsville post office opens
  3. 1832
    FoundingOlney is established
  4. 1837Post officeThe Mechanicsville post office closes
  5. 1851Post officeThe Olney post office opens
  6. 1865Post officeThe Norbeck post office opens
  7. 1878In the archiveAtlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905Post officeThe Norbeck post office closes
  10. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1920In the archiveMrs. Soper and her house
  12. 1936In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 10-20 …
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.

Mrs. Soper and her house
Retake this viewMrs. Soper and her house, 1920

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Olney, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00020002020Peak: 35,820

Between 31,438 and 35,820 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Olney’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMrs. Soper and her house: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ashton-Sandy Spring2 historic placesB−Aspen HillIts storyDBrookeville2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLeisure WorldIts storyD−

Questions about Olney’s history

What year was Olney founded?

In 1832, according to Wikidata. Olney’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 2000 counted 31,438 people here.

How does Olney rank for history?

Olney is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #144 of 261 in Maryland. 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.

How old are the homes in Olney?

1% of Olney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1986.

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