The story
Read it all →How Oak Level came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Oak Level.
Redfield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Oak Level
Oak Level’s post office opened in 1835
Most of Oak Level was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1927 on.
1835first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Oak Level began
When was Oak Level founded?
1835
The Oak Level post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 803191 years
Founding year: the first Oak Level post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Oak Level’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 Oak Level’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oak Level’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Oak Level, 1835 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1835Post officeThe Oak Level post office opens
- 20th century
- 1903Post officeThe Oak Level post office closes
- 1927
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
Oak Level on the map, 1927 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oak Level. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Rocky Mount sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oak Level.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Oak Level
Nobody well known was born in Oak Level itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
C
Claudia EmersonAmerican academic, writer and poet · b. 1957G
Glen WoodAmerican NASCAR driver and team owner · b. 1925M
Mike NeillBaseball player · b. 1970Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Oak Level had its own post office from 1835 to 1903.
Oak Level
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Bowles Milllocale
1cemetery inside Oak Level
Henry Memorial Park
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 Oak Level’s history
What year was Oak Level founded?
The Oak Level post office opened in 1835, 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, 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.