Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Osborn

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Osborn

Osborn’s post office opened in 1858, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1880.

1858first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Osborn’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Osborn began, and where its name came from

When was Osborn founded?

1858

The Osborn post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 412 in 18802020 census: 374168 years

How did Osborn get its name?

Osborn was named for Col. William Osborn of Waterville, New York.

Founding year: the first Osborn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Osborn’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 Osborn’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGrindstone Creek Bridge, Spanning Grind…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Osborn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Osborn.

Read it all →

Osborn got its start following the construction of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad through that territory. It was named for Col. William Osborn of Waterville, New York. Col. Osborn, born in Sangerfield, New York on May 9, 1809, was an Oneida National Bank and Trust Company of Central New York commissioner and farmer who, in 1845, relocated to Missouri, where he partnered with the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company, the firm that constructed the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Osborn, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Grindstone Creek Bridge, Spanning Grindstone Creek at Cart Road No. 458Date?Grindstone Creek Bridge, Spanning Grindstone Creek at…
Today1 recent
MOMap-doton-Osborn2004MOMap-doton-Osborn
On the map

Osborn on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Osborn.

Osborn on the 1986 USGS map1986Saint Joseph sheet · 1:100,000

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

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.

Grindstone Creek Bridge, Spanning Grindstone Creek at Cart Road No. 458
Retake this viewGrindstone Creek Bridge, Spanning Grindstone Creek at Cart Road No. 458

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Osborn, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 455

Between 237 and 455 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Osborn’s history

What year was Osborn founded?

The Osborn post office opened in 1858, 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 (1), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.