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History · Onaway

Onaway’s post office opened in 1890, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Presque Isle County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Onaway began

When was Onaway founded?

1890

The Onaway post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Shaw (1882) and Adalaska (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,204 in 19002020 census: 890136 years
Founding year: the first Onaway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Onaway’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 Onaway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,789 in 1920; 890 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Onaway.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1903 to 1915, drew every building in Onaway.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Onaway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Onaway’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

Onaway, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,789

Peaked at 2,789 in 1920; 890 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Onaway had its own post office from 1890 to 1893. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shaw
1882–1890
Onaway
1890–1893
Adalaska
1893–1897
Onaway
1897–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Leo E Goetz County AirportairportOnaway Post Officepost officeOnaway Stationlocale
1cemetery inside Onaway
Elmwood

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

The story

How Onaway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Onaway.

Read it all →

This farming community received a post office open on October 23, 1882 with civil engineer Thomas E. Shaw as postmaster. This office was named Shaw for him. Arriving in 1886, Merritt Chandler had platted the community under the name of Onaway. Chandler took over as postmaster with it changing its name to Onaway on March 29, 1890. On August 18, 1893, Shaw took back the postmaster position and changed the office's name to Adalaska. Once again, the post office was renamed back to Onaway on November 15, 1897. Onaway was incorporated as a village in 1899. Onaway soon became a city in 1903.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Onaway, 1882 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Shaw post office opens
  3. 1890Post officeThe Shaw post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Onaway post office opens
  5. 1893Post officeThe Onaway post office closes
  6. 1893Post officeThe Adalaska post office opens
  7. 1897Post officeThe Adalaska post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1916Born hereMarjorie Matthews is born here
  10. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 2,789
  11. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Onaway, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MIMap-doton-Onaway2005MIMap-doton-Onaway
On the map

Onaway on the map, 1957 to 1986

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

Onaway on the 1957 USGS mapOnaway on the 1986 USGS map1957Onaway 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 Onaway.

Every building

Onaway, building by building, 1903–1915

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 year, then a sheet.

Onaway fire insurance map, 1903, sheet 11903Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
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 Onaway

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
1980
Presque Isle County Courthouse
Presque Isle County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Romanesque1
Renaissance Revival1
Presque Isle County CourthouseItalianate

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Allis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Allis Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Onaway’s history

What year was Onaway founded?

The Onaway post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Onaway?

One place: the Presque Isle County Courthouse (listed 1980).

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 (1), 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.