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History · Orr

Orr’s post office opened in 1907, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

1907first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orr began

When was Orr founded?

1907

The Orr post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Leiding (1908), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 211119 years
Founding year: the first Orr post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Orr’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 Orr are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orr’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orr’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

How Orr came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orr.

Read it all →

Orr got its start as a lumber town. A post office called Orr has been in operation since 1907. William Orr, an early postmaster, gave the community its name.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orr, 1907 to 1933

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Orr post office opens
  3. 1908Post officeThe Leiding post office opens
  4. 1908Post officeThe Leiding post office closes
  5. 1933Born hereJanet Boyer Wolfe is born here
By decade

Orr, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Black-backed woodpecker2025Black-backed woodpeckerMN St Louis County 1907200949872009MN St Louis County 190720094987Pelican Lake Sunset2008Pelican Lake Sunset
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Orr’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Leiding, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Orr
1907–today
Leiding
1908–1908
19001960today
1cemetery inside Orr
Leiding

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

Questions about Orr’s history

What year was Orr founded?

The Orr post office opened in 1907, 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 →
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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 (3), Wikidata (2), 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.