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History · Oxly

Oxly’s post office opened in 1900

Most of Oxly was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: maps from 1935 on.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Oxly began

When was Oxly founded?

1900

The Oxly post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Varner (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 62126 years
Founding year: the first Oxly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Oxly’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Oxly, in brief

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

Oxly is a census-designated place in southeastern Ripley County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Logan Creek along Missouri Route 142, approximately seven miles east of Doniphan. A post office called Oxly has been in operation since 1900. The community has the name of F. G. Oxley, a businessperson in the local lumber industry.

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 200 to 62 (-69%).

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

Timeline

Oxly, 1883 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Varner post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Varner post office closes
  5. 1900Post officeThe Oxly post office opens
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Oxly on the map, 1935 to 1979

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

Oxly on the 1935 USGS mapOxly on the 1940 USGS mapOxly on the 1979 USGS map1935Acorn 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 Oxly.

Famous people

Famous people close to Oxly

Nobody well known was born in Oxly itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Billy Lee RileyAmerican rockabilly musician, singer, record pr… · b. 1933
J
Jim JohnstonAmerican music composer and musician best known… · b. 1959
S
Scott InnesAmerican actor · b. 1966
A. S. J. CarnahanAmerican politician · b. 1897
Barbara FairchildAmerican country and gospel singer · b. 1950
B
Ben HansbroughAmerican basketball player · b. 1987
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Oxly’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Varner, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Varner
1883–1900
Oxly
1900–today
18801950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oxly
AntiochCardwell

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

Questions about Oxly’s history

What year was Oxly founded?

The Oxly post office opened in 1900, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.