Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Overly

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 · Overly

Overly’s post office opened in 1905, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Overly began

When was Overly founded?

1905

The Overly post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 182 in 19102020 census: 10121 years
Founding year: the first Overly post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Overly’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Overly’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
The story

How Overly came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Overly.

Read it all →

Overly was founded in 1905 as a railroad loading station along the Soo Line Railroad. Overly's post office was established August 21, 1905, and service discontinued November 9, 1996. The city now shares the ZIP Code of 58384 with nearby Willow City.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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
On the map

Overly on the map, 1955 to 1980

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

Overly on the 1955 USGS mapOverly on the 1980 USGS map1955Overly sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Overly, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 193

Between 10 and 193 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Overly’s history

What year was Overly founded?

The Overly post office opened in 1905, 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, 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.