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History · Osage

Osage’s post office opened in 1930

Below: 18 old photos and papers and maps from 1904 on.

1930first post office
0on the National Register
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Osage’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Osage began

When was Osage founded?

1930

The Osage post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Charlotte (1890) and Frum (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 8296 years
Founding year: the first Osage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Osage’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.On the map since 19045 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1997. Watch Osage change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Osage.
★ What stands out · By decade

Osage, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s18 items
Company houses along railroad tracks. Scott's Run near Morgantown, West Virginia. Osage, West Virginia1935Company houses along railroad tracks. Scott's Run nea…Scott's Run mining camps near Morgantown, West Virginia. View near Osage1935Scott's Run mining camps near Morgantown, West Virgin…Osage-west-virginia-coal-tipple11938Osage-west-virginia-coal-tipple1Payday1938PaydayPayday1938PaydayStorefront, mining town1938Storefront, mining townPayday, coal mining town1938Payday, coal mining townPayday, coal mining town1938Payday, coal mining townAbandoned coal tipple near Osage, West Virginia1938Abandoned coal tipple near Osage, West VirginiaGoing home from school1938Going home from schoolGoing home from school1938Going home from school"Sittin' around" mining town. Osage, West Virginia1938"Sittin' around" mining town. Osage, West Virginia"Sittin' around" mining town. Osage, West Virginia1938"Sittin' around" mining town. Osage, West VirginiaCenter of mining town. Osage, West Virginia1938Center of mining town. Osage, West VirginiaCenter of mining town. Osage, West Virginia1938Center of mining town. Osage, West VirginiaStorefront in mining town. Osage, West Virginia1938Storefront in mining town. Osage, West VirginiaGas station and dance hall1938Gas station and dance hallShooting craps by company store1938Shooting craps by company store
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Osage on the map, 1904 to 1997

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

Osage on the 1904 USGS mapOsage on the 1923 USGS mapOsage on the 1958 USGS mapOsage on the 1976 USGS mapOsage on the 1997 USGS map1904Blacksville sheet · 1:62,500

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Osage’s post office has been open since 1930. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Charlotte
1890–1913
Frum
1924–1930
Osage
1930–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Cass District Junior High SchoolschoolCass Elementary Schoolschool

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

The story so far

Osage, in brief

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

Osage is an unincorporated community in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States. It lies across the Monongahela River from Morgantown. The community was named after the Osage Indians.

Its first post office opened in 1930.

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

Timeline

Osage, 1890 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Charlotte post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1913Post officeThe Charlotte post office closes
  6. 1924Post officeThe Frum post office opens
  7. 1930Post officeThe Frum post office closes
  8. 1930Post officeThe Osage post office opens
  9. 1935In the archiveCompany houses along railroad tracks. Scott's Run near Morgantown, West Virginia. Osage, …
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Company houses along railroad tracks. Scott's Run near Morgantown, West Virginia. Osage, West Virginia
Retake this viewCompany houses along railroad tracks. Scott's Run near Morgantown, West Virginia. Osage, West Virginia, 1935

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Osage’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Osage’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCompany houses along railroad tracks. S…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

GranvilleIts storyB−

Questions about Osage’s history

What year was Osage founded?

The Osage post office opened in 1930, 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 (1), the Library of Congress (17), 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.