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History · Obion

Obion’s post office opened in 1874, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1890.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Obion began

When was Obion founded?

1874

The Obion post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 660 in 18902020 census: 991152 years
Founding year: the first Obion post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Obion’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 Obion are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,376 in 1920; 991 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1902 to 1913, drew every building in Obion.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Obion’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Obion’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
People over time

Obion, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,376

Peaked at 1,376 in 1920; 991 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Obion, building by building, 1902–1913

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.

Obion fire insurance map, 1902, sheet 11902Sheet 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 Obion came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Obion.

Read it all →

Originally called Obion Station, the community was started in 1872 on land owned by William M. Wilson. The town was a stop on the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Obion, 1874 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Obion post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,376
  5. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Obion, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Obion-water-tower-tn2019Obion-water-tower-tnObion-TN183-tn2019Obion-TN183-tnObion-RR-tracks-tn2019Obion-RR-tracks-tnObion-City-Hall-tn2019Obion-City-Hall-tnObion-Cherokee-House-tn2019Obion-Cherokee-House-tn
On the map

Obion on the map, 1950 to 1983

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

Obion on the 1950 USGS mapObion on the 1983 USGS map1950Obion sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Obion.

Questions about Obion’s history

What year was Obion founded?

The Obion post office opened in 1874, 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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.