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History · Orleans

Orleans’ post office opened in 1873, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library and the Hotel Orleans. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
2on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Quick answers

How Orleans began

When was Orleans founded?

1873

The Orleans post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Melrose (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 409 in 18802020 census: 341153 years
Founding year: the first Orleans post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Orleans’ 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 Orleans 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 1986. Watch Orleans change.Old housesHalf of Orleans’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 985 in 1930; 341 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orleans’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orleans’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

Orleans on the map, 1896 to 1986

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

Orleans on the 1896 USGS mapOrleans on the 1973 USGS mapOrleans on the 1986 USGS map1896Holdrege 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 Orleans.

The story

How Orleans came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orleans.

Read it all →

Some of the first settlers around Orleans were forty men from eastern Nebraska who camped nearby in August 1870 and began staking homestead claims.

The hamlet of Orleans was founded in the 1870s. It was likely named after Orleans, Massachusetts.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orleans, 1873 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Melrose post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Orleans post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Melrose post office closes
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 985
By decade

Orleans, decade by decade

Today11 recent
M.B. Miller Heritage Plaza, bell tower plaque, memorial to Orleans Seminary(older) 2026-03-272026M.B. Miller Heritage Plaza, bell tower plaque, memori…M.B. Miller Heritage Plaza, bell tower plaque, memorial to Orleans Seminary 2026-03-272026M.B. Miller Heritage Plaza, bell tower plaque, memori…Orleans, Nebraska - secret sign2009Orleans, Nebraska - secret signOrleans, Nebraska - Village Office2009Orleans, Nebraska - Village OfficeOrleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 52009Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 5Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 42009Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 4Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 32009Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 3Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 22009Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 2Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 12009Orleans, Nebraska - Orleans Ave 1Orleans, Nebraska - Junque Shop2009Orleans, Nebraska - Junque ShopNEMap-doton-Orleans2005NEMap-doton-Orleans
On the National Register

2 historic places in Orleans

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial LibraryHotel Orleans
Buildings
All 2 listings
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial LibraryBuilding · listed 2021Hotel OrleansBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Orleans, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 985

Peaked at 985 in 1930; 341 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Orleans’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Melrose, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Melrose
1873–1878
Orleans
1873–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Orleans’ history

What year was Orleans founded?

The Orleans post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Orleans?

Two places: the Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library (listed 2021) and the Hotel Orleans (2021).

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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.