History · Oakville

Oakville’s post office opened in 1841, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #126 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

Most of Oakville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Nims Mansion. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 2000.

1841first post office

1on the National Register

2%homes built before 1940

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Oakville began

When was Oakville founded?

1841

The Oakville post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 35,309 in 20002020 census: 36,301185 years

How historic is Oakville?

B⁻

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Oakville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Oakville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakville is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #126 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oakville’s overall grade.

Founding era1841, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19402.0% of homes (±0.8) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register1 listing, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%

NewerOlder

Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 49%

Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakville’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Missouri 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 B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Oakville’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 Oakville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19127 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1991. Watch Oakville change.Deep rootsA post office since 1841: 185 years of Oakville.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oakville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakville’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

On the map

Oakville on the map, 1912 to 1991

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

1912Kimmswick sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oakville.

Timeline

Oakville, 1841 to 1973

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

19th century
1841Post officeThe Oakville post office opens
20th century
1907Post officeThe Oakville post office closes
1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1973Born hereBridgett Riley is born here

The story so far

Oakville, in brief

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

Oakville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 36,301 at the 2020 census. Oakville is 18 miles south of the city of St. Louis and borders the Mississippi and Meramec rivers; the area is part of "South County" (south St. Louis County).

Its first post office opened in 1841. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 36,143 in 2010, 36,301 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Oakville, decade by decade

Today3 recent

2016Bee tree lake

2007Train - panoramio - BDSII

2006Oakville, MO 63129, USA

On the National Register

1 historic place in Oakville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2017

Nims Mansion

Buildings

Nims MansionBuilding

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

People over time

Oakville, census by census

Between 35,309 and 36,301 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Oakville had its own post office from 1841 to 1907.

Oakville

1841–1907

18401930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Cliff CavePointWhite House

Gone or out of use

Kendalllocale

1cemetery inside Oakville

Saint Paul

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mehlville1 historic placeC⁺

Questions about Oakville’s history

What year was Oakville founded?

The Oakville post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Oakville rank for history?

Oakville is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #126 of 247 in Missouri. 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 Oakville?

One place: the Nims Mansion (listed 2017).

How old are the homes in Oakville?

2% of Oakville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.

Post to Oakville

Check your email