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–Not graded
History · Orient

Orient’s post office opened in 1886, and 71% of its homes were built before 1940

1886first post office
0on the National Register
71%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How Orient began

When was Orient founded?

1886

The Orient post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mentone (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 51140 years
Founding year: the first Orient post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Orient’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Mentone, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Orient
1886–today
Mentone
1887–1887
18801950today
1cemetery inside Orient
Saint Josephs

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Orient’s history

What year was Orient founded?

The Orient post office opened in 1886, 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 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.