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BHistory
History · Osakis

Osakis’ post office opened in 1864, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the John B. Johnson House. Its Register listing is the John B. Johnson House. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1880.

1864first post office
1on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Osakis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Osakis began

When was Osakis founded?

1864

The Osakis post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1866.

First census: 252 in 18802020 census: 1,771162 years

How historic is Osakis?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Osakis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1866.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Osakis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Osakis is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Osakis’ overall grade.
Founding era1864, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194024.4% of homes (±6.0) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 6.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 63%
NewerOlder

Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Osakis’ 6.2 sits above most of its state (67% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1866 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Osakis’ past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · By decade

Osakis, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s18 items
Battle Point, Lake Osakis1907Battle Point, Lake OsakisBattle Point, Lake Osakis1907Battle Point, Lake OsakisOsakis, Minn1907Osakis, MinnMarket day1907Market dayLake Osakis1908Lake OsakisIdlewood Cottages, Lake Osakis1908Idlewood Cottages, Lake OsakisLinwood Landing, Lake Osakis1908Linwood Landing, Lake OsakisLake Osakis from park1908Lake Osakis from parkEast shore, Lake Osakis1908East shore, Lake OsakisBuck Point, Lake Osakis1908Buck Point, Lake OsakisBuck Point, Lake Osakis1908Buck Point, Lake OsakisBattle Point, Lake Osakis1908Battle Point, Lake OsakisGutches Point, Lake Osakis1908Gutches Point, Lake OsakisCoon Point, Lake Osakis1908Coon Point, Lake OsakisCoon Point, Lake Osakis1908Coon Point, Lake OsakisBoat landing at Lake Osakis1908Boat landing at Lake OsakisA lake drive, Lake Osakis1908A lake drive, Lake OsakisSteam boat on Lake Osakis1908Steam boat on Lake Osakis
1910s–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
Today6 recent
Ed Pollard Community Hall & Fire Hall2025Ed Pollard Community Hall & Fire HallCommercial storefronts on Central Avenue2025Commercial storefronts on Central AvenueCity Hall & Police Station, Osakis, Minnesota 022025City Hall & Police Station, Osakis, Minnesota 02City Hall & Police Station, Osakis, Minnesota 012025City Hall & Police Station, Osakis, Minnesota 01Central Avenue2025Central AvenueCafe2025Cafe
The story

How Osakis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Osakis.

Read it all →

The John B. Johnson House is located in Osakis and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Osakis, 1864 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Osakis post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archiveBattle Point, Lake Osakis
  5. 1961Born hereLeif Enger is born here
  6. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Osakis on the map, 1966 to 1986

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

Osakis on the 1966 USGS mapOsakis on the 1986 USGS map1966Osakis 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 Osakis.

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.

Battle Point, Lake Osakis
Retake this viewBattle Point, Lake Osakis, 1907

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Osakis

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
1977
John B. Johnson House
John B. Johnson House
Buildings
John B. Johnson HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Osakis, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800188019001920194019601980200020201,771

Grew from 252 people in 1880 to 1,771 in 2020, 7 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Osakis’s post office has been open since 1864.

Gone or out of use
Osakislocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Osakis
EvergreenLakeside

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

Help out

Finish Osakis’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

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

History across the town line

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

Gordon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOsakis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Osakis’ history

What year was Osakis founded?

The Osakis post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1866.

How does Osakis rank for history?

Osakis is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Osakis?

One place: the John B. Johnson House (listed 1977).

How old are the homes in Osakis?

24% of Osakis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (18), 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) 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.