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History · Onamia

Onamia’s post office opened in 1901, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1922 on.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Onamia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Onamia began

When was Onamia founded?

1901

The Onamia post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 784125 years
Founding year: the first Onamia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Onamia’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Onamia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOnamiaCloister: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Onamia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Onamia.

Read it all →

Originally, the city of Onamia was organized from the merger of two communities, the village of Onamia (Ojibwe: Onamanii-zaaga'iganiing) and the village of Ericksonville (Ojibwe: Gibaakwa'igaansing). Onamia is named after Lake Onamia, whose name derives from the Ojibwe word onaman ("red ochre", or, locally, "vermilion"). Ericksonville was incorporated in 1898. Onamia was incorporated in 1908.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Onamia, 1901 to 1936

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Onamia post office opens
  3. 1922In the archiveOnamiaCloister
  4. 1936Born hereJohn E. Osborn is born here
By decade

Onamia, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
OnamiaCloister1922OnamiaCloister
1930s–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
Today5 recent
Onamia, Minnesota-03-businesses2023Onamia, Minnesota-03-businessesOnamia, Minnesota-02-Onamia Depot Library2023Onamia, Minnesota-02-Onamia Depot LibraryOnamia, Minnesota-01-Onamia Depot LibraryJPG2023Onamia, Minnesota-01-Onamia Depot LibraryJPGMille Lacs Winter Sunrise2018Mille Lacs Winter SunriseGrand Casino Mille Lacs2005Grand Casino Mille Lacs
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.

OnamiaCloister
Retake this viewOnamiaCloister, 1922

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

South Harbor TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOnamia Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBradbury TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Onamia’s history

What year was Onamia founded?

The Onamia post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.