Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Adamsville

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
Adamsville Presbyterian ChurchPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Adamsville

Adamsville’s post office opened in 1839, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on.

1839first post office
0on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Adamsville began

When was Adamsville founded?

1839

The Adamsville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 88187 years
Founding year: the first Adamsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Adamsville’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 Adamsville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Adamsville’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1970. Watch Adamsville change.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Adamsville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Adamsville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Adamsville’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 Adamsville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Adamsville.

Read it all →

The area that became Adamsville was first settled by the Owry family in the early 1800. The community originally grew around a blacksmith shop operated by Adam Owry, because of his importance to the early settlement the area was first known to local residents as Owrytown.

The community began to grow more rapidly during the construction of a nearby canal on February 8th 1841. Henry Owry officially mapped out (platted) the village into 64 individual lots. After this official layout was made the village changed its name from Owrytown to Adamsville continuing to honor Adam Owry.

(Note: Depending on the historical record, the founder's name is sometimes spelled Owrey or Oury)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Adamsville on the map, 1906 to 1970

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

Adamsville on the 1906 USGS mapAdamsville on the 1959 USGS mapAdamsville on the 1970 USGS map1906Linesville 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 Adamsville.

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
Famous people

Famous people close to Adamsville

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

See all →
Maxwell AndersonAmerican playwright and writer · b. 1888
Frank E. WoodsAmerican screenwriter · b. 1860
Ken ChristyAmerican actor · b. 1894
William Howard HayAmerican physician · b. 1866
Albion W. TourgéeAmerican civil rights activist and novelist · b. 1838
Alexander LongAmerican politician · b. 1816

Questions about Adamsville’s history

What year was Adamsville founded?

The Adamsville post office opened in 1839, 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 and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.