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History · Orion

Orion’s post office opened in 1851, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Henry Fiedler House and the Bloyer Mound Group.

1851first post office
2on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orion began

When was Orion founded?

1851

The Orion post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Aken (1858) and Twin Bluffs (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 541175 years
Founding year: the first Orion post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Orion’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 Orion are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Orion, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orion’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orion’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Orion had its own post office from 1851 to 1890. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Orion
1851–1890
Aken
1858–1878
Twin Bluffs
1883–1954
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Twin Bluffs
Gone or out of use
Akey SchoolschoolElm Grove SchoolschoolOak Ridge SchoolschoolRiverview SchoolschoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 7school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Orion
Ash CreekIndian CreekMayfieldOak Ridge

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

The story so far

Orion, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Orion yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Orion is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 541 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Orion and Twin Bluffs are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 579 to 541 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Orion, 1851 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Orion post office opens
  3. 1858Post officeThe Aken post office opens
  4. 1860BuiltHenry Fiedler House is built
  5. 1866Born hereGeorge H. Hodges is born here
  6. 1878Post officeThe Aken post office closes
  7. 1883Post officeThe Twin Bluffs post office opens
  8. 1890Post officeThe Orion post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1954Post officeThe Twin Bluffs post office closes
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
On the National Register

2 historic places in Orion

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Henry Fiedler House
Henry Fiedler House, built 1860Bloyer Mound Group
BuildingsSites
Henry Fiedler HouseBuilt 1860
All 2 listings
Bloyer Mound GroupSite · listed 2006

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pulaski1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEagleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuena VistaIts storyC+RichlandIts storyCAvocaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Orion’s history

What year was Orion founded?

The Orion post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Orion?

Two places: the Henry Fiedler House (listed 1986) and the Bloyer Mound Group (2006).

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.