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History · Osage

Osage’s post office opened in 1906, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1920.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Osage began

When was Osage founded?

1906

The Osage post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 757 in 19202020 census: 177120 years
Founding year: the first Osage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Osage’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 Osage are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19153 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1983. Watch Osage change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Osage’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Osage’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Osage on the map, 1915 to 1983

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

Osage on the 1915 USGS mapOsage on the 1966 USGS mapOsage on the 1983 USGS map1915Hominy 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 Osage.

The story so far

Osage, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Osage yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Osage is a town in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. Also known as Osage City, it lies within the Osage Reservation on the shore of Lake Keystone. As of the 2020 census, the community had 177 residents.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 156 to 177 (+13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Osage in 1906

Passages that mention Osage, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Art. IX. (Para. 99.) Section 1 of the Laws of the Osage reads: "Whereas the peace and prosperity of the Osage people require that in the enforcement of the laws, jurisdiction of the civil law should he exercised over all persons whosoever who may from time to time be privileged to reside within the…
History of the Osage nation1906 · page 44Read the page →
Read the text

Art. IX. (Para. 99.) Section 1 of the Laws of the Osage reads: "Whereas the peace and prosperity of the Osage people require that in the enforcement of the laws, jurisdiction of the civil law should he exercised over all persons whosoever who may from time to time be privileged to reside within the limits of the Osage Nation, therefore any white man or citizen of the fniled States who may letoafter Cf.me into the country to marry an Osage woman shall first be required to make known his intentions to the Nation Council by applying for a license and such license may

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Who appears on the fore ground of this building is one of the first builders and contractors ever established in the Osage nation. He was formerly from Texas, but has resided in the Osage lor twenty years and applied his trade all over the Osage country. Some of the finest types of
History of the Osage nation1906 · page 42Read the page →
Read the text

Who appears on the fore ground of this building is one of the first builders and contractors ever established in the Osage nation. He was formerly from Texas, but has resided in the Osage lor twenty years and applied his trade all over the Osage country. Some of the finest types of

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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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People over time

Osage, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 757

Between 156 and 757 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Osage’s history

What year was Osage founded?

The Osage post office opened in 1906, 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 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.