The story
Read it all →How Ortley came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ortley.
Ortley was laid out in 1906; an early variant name was Anderson.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Ortley
Ortley’s post office opened in 1906, and 68% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1910.
1906first post office
0on the National Register
68%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Ortley began
When was Ortley founded?
1906
The Ortley post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 192 in 19102020 census: 50120 years
Founding year: the first Ortley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Ortley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ortley’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ortley’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Ortley, 1906 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 albumOn the map
Ortley on the map, 1970 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ortley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1970Ortley sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ortley.
People over time
Ortley, census by census
Between 50 and 192 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ortley’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ortley
Nobody well known was born in Ortley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
B
Brock LesnarAmerican professional wrestler, mixed martial a… · b. 1977T
Tom BrokawAmerican broadcast journalist and author · b. 1940D
David B. WakeAmerican evolutionary biologist · b. 1936
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Ortley had its own post office from 1906 to 1984.
Ortley
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Ortley Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Ortley
Ortley
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 Ortley’s history
What year was Ortley founded?
The Ortley 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.
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, 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.