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History · Orrick

Orrick’s post office opened in 1873, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orrick began

When was Orrick founded?

1873

The Orrick post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 193 in 18802020 census: 753153 years
Founding year: the first Orrick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Orrick’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 Orrick are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18943 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1983. Watch Orrick change.Old housesHalf of Orrick’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orrick’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orrick’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

Orrick on the map, 1894 to 1983

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

Orrick on the 1894 USGS mapOrrick on the 1978 USGS mapOrrick on the 1983 USGS map1894Independence sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Orrick came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orrick.

Read it all →

The first community in the area was Albany, established by Ely Carter in 1854. When he applied for a post office, the request was denied because another Albany already existed in the state. Carter then used the name of his wife, Ada, for the post office, but the town continued to be known as Albany.

"Bloody Bill" Anderson was killed during the American Civil War in the Battle of Albany on October 24, 1864.

Albany was formally incorporated in 1871; however, by that time the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Star Railroad (later the Wabash Railroad) had laid tracks a mile south in 1868 and 1869, leading to the establishment of a new community, Orrick, along the railroad.

ChaptersTornadoes

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orrick, 1873 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Orrick post office opens
  3. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1989Born hereChad Kilgore is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Every building

Orrick, building by building, 1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Orrick fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Orrick, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 935

Between 193 and 935 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Orrick’s history

What year was Orrick founded?

The Orrick post office opened in 1873, 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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.