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History · Okabena

Okabena dates to 1879, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1940.

1879founded
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Okabena’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Okabena began

When was Okabena founded?

1879

Okabena dates its founding to 1879 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 210 in 19402020 census: 203147 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓

What stands out about Okabena’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Okabena’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Okabena’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHere is a family who could never be cal…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Okabena came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Okabena.

Read it all →

Okabena was founded in 1879 after the railroad had been extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Okabena since 1880.

On May 19, 1933, the Okabena Bank was robbed by Bonnie and Clyde. After leaving the bank, the outlaws' car sped through Okabena, spraying the town with machine-gun fire. Schoolchildren ducked behind trees and bullets sliced through walls and shattered windows. They escaped on a country road with approximately $2500 (approximately $44,000 in 2013 dollars). Three other people (Tony, Floyd and Mildred Strain) were sent to prison for the crime, and it was not recognized for many years that the real robbers were the infamous Bonnie and Clyde Gang.

ChaptersBank robbery

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Okabena, 1879 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879
    FoundingOkabena is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Okabena post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1919In the archiveHere is a family who could never be called slackers in the knitting field. One hundred an…
  6. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Okabena, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Here is a family who could never be called slackers in the knitting field. One hundred and seventy three pairs of socks…1919Here is a family who could never be called slackers i…
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Bridge L5245, Spans Okabena Creek (formerly carried 330th Avenue/Township Road 187)Date?Bridge L5245, Spans Okabena Creek (formerly carried 3…
On the map

Okabena on the map, 1960 to 1985

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

Okabena on the 1960 USGS mapOkabena on the 1976 USGS mapOkabena on the 1985 USGS map1960Okabena 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 Okabena.

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.

Here is a family who could never be called slackers in the knitting field. One hundred and seventy three pairs of socks…
Retake this viewHere is a family who could never be called slackers in the knitting field. One hundred and seventy three pairs of socks…, 1919

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Okabena, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 263

Between 185 and 263 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Okabena

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

See all →
M
Maria SchneiderJazz bandleader and composer · b. 1960
Johnny OlsonAmerican television announcer · b. 1910
F
Frederick William FrekingCatholic bishop · b. 1913
E
Elaine HarderAmerican politician · b. 1947
Garland BuckeyeAmerican baseball player · b. 1897
G
George MannAmerican politician · b. 1918
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Okabena’s post office has been open since 1880.

Gone or out of use
Okabenalocale

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

Questions about Okabena’s history

What year was Okabena founded?

In 1879, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Okabena’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1940 counted 210 people here.

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 Library of Congress (2), 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.