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History · Orlando

Orlando’s post office opened in 1889, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1900.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orlando began

When was Orlando founded?

1889

The Orlando post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 300 in 19002020 census: 130137 years
Founding year: the first Orlando post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Orlando’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 Orlando are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1990. Watch Orlando change.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1915, drew every building in Orlando.Old housesHalf of Orlando’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orlando’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orlando’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

Orlando on the map, 1893 to 1990

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

Orlando on the 1893 USGS mapOrlando on the 1974 USGS mapOrlando on the 1990 USGS map1893Mulhall 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 Orlando.

Every building

Orlando, building by building, 1894–1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Orlando fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Orlando came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orlando.

Read it all →

Before the opening of the Cherokee Outlet for settlement, this community was called Cherokee, but the name was changed to Orlando, when a post office was opened on July 18, 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Orlando, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Deserted homestead2013Deserted homesteadOKMap-doton-Orlando2004OKMap-doton-Orlando
People over time

Orlando, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 340

Between 130 and 340 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Orlando’s history

What year was Orlando founded?

The Orlando post office opened in 1889, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.