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History · Oconee Township

Oconee Township’s post office opened in 1887, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Oconee Township began

When was Oconee Township founded?

1887

The Oconee Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Lost Creek (1879), Dorrance (1885) and Oconee (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 502139 years
Founding year: the first Oconee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Oconee Township’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 Oconee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Oconee Township change.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Oconee Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oconee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oconee Township’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

Oconee Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Oconee Township on the 1896 USGS mapOconee Township on the 1958 USGS mapOconee Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Stromsburg 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 Oconee Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lost Creek
1879–1885
Dorrance
1885–1887
Oconee
1887–1916
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Oconee
Gone or out of use
Oconee Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Oconee Township
Friends

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

The story

How Oconee Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oconee Township.

Read it all →

Oconee was originally called Lost Creek, and under the latter name was platted in 1880. The name was soon changed to Oconee, likely after Oconee, Illinois. The village in Illinois was named after the daughter of a local Indian chieftain, whose name allegedly means—or sounds like—the Shawnee language word for bone.

A post office was established at Oconee in 1887, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1916.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oconee Township, 1879 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Lost Creek post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Lost Creek post office closes
  4. 1885Post officeThe Dorrance post office opens
  5. 1887Post officeThe Dorrance post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Oconee post office opens
  7. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1916Post officeThe Oconee post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Oconee Township

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

See all →
Lucas CruikshankAmerican actor · b. 1993
Jim PillenGovernor of Nebraska since 2023 · b. 1955
B
Brad William HenkeAmerican actor and football player · b. 1966
Max MathewsAmerican pioneer in computer music · b. 1926
Alfred GruentherUnited States Army general · b. 1899
C
Chad FleischerOlympic alpine skier, US ski team member · b. 1972
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Monroe Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGenoa Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLost Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColumbus Township1 historic placeCButler Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairie Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oconee Township’s history

What year was Oconee Township founded?

The Oconee Township post office opened in 1887, 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, 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.