The story
Read it all →How White Oak came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of White Oak.
Desserette and Harmony Hall are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · White Oak
White Oak’s post office opened in 1853, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
Most of White Oak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Its Register listing is the Harmony Hall. Below: maps from 1987 on.
1853first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How White Oak began
When was White Oak founded?
1853
The White Oak post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Harrison Creek (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 346173 years
Founding year: the first White Oak post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about White Oak’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start White Oak’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Oak’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
White Oak, 1819 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people 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 albumOn the map
White Oak on the map in 1987
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of White Oak.
1987Jerome sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of White Oak.
On the National Register
1 historic place in White Oak
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
1972
Harmony Hall
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Plantation1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
White Oak’s post office has been open since 1853. Another post office, Harrison Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Harrison Creek
White Oak
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burney
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about White Oak’s history
What year was White Oak founded?
The White Oak post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in White Oak?
One place: the Harmony Hall (listed 1972).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.