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History · Onota Township

Onota Township’s post office opened in 1885, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the M-28-Sand River Bridge.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Onota Township began

When was Onota Township founded?

1885

The Onota Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Onota (1885), Rock River (1886) and Sand River (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 371141 years
Founding year: the first Onota Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Onota Township’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Onota Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Onota Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Onota
1885–1924
Rock River
1886–1906
Sand River
1891–1908
Tyoga
1906–1907
Deerton
1922–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DeertonOnotaRock RiverSand River
Gone or out of use
Deerton StationlocaleOld Charcoal Kilns RuinslocaleOnota Post Officepost officeOnota StationlocaleRock River Post Officepost officeRock River StationlocaleSand River Post Officepost officeTyoga Post Officepost officeTyoga Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Onota Township
DeertonTrudell's Graves

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

Help out

Start Onota Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Onota Township’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
The story so far

Onota Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Onota Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 352 to 371 (+5%).

Timeline

Onota Township, 1885 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Onota post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Rock River post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Sand River post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Rock River post office closes
  7. 1908Post officeThe Sand River post office closes
  8. 1924Post officeThe Onota post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Onota Township

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
1999
M-28-Sand River Bridge
M-28-Sand River Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Concrete Rigid Frame Bridge1
M-28-Sand River BridgeConcrete Rigid Frame Bridge

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Onota Township

Nobody well known was born in Onota Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Sallie W. ChisholmAmerican oceanographer, marine biologist · b. 1947
J
John LautnerAmerican architect · b. 1911
W
Weldon OlsonAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1932
Alfred V. KidderAmerican archaeologist · b. 1885
M
Mary SteinAmerican actress · b. 1968
Roy A. YoungAmerican businessman · b. 1882
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rock River TownshipIts storyB−Chocolay TownshipIts storyC−Au Train Township3 historic placesB−Skandia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Onota Township’s history

What year was Onota Township founded?

The Onota Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Onota Township?

One place: the M-28-Sand River Bridge (listed 1999).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.