Welcome to Oswald ...
So far, we found very little information about Oswald. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Oswald to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Oswald, please Contact Us.
Oswald would have been located within present day Raleigh County<2>.
The location of Oswald has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<3>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Oswald, you might consider that their post office opened in 1906.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Oswald is 1,910 feet [582 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: The area where Oswald was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Oswald would have been located in the (304) & (681)<5> area codes.
Communities Also Named Oswald ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 5 communities that are also named Oswald - they are located in California, Georgia, Manitoba, Missouri and North Dakota.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Oswald.
Communities near Oswald ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Oswald.
- Beckley
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckley
- Beckley is located in Raleigh County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,805 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beckley <6>
- Oak Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Oak Hill is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,028 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Hill <6>
- Fayetteville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
- Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,684 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <6>
- Ansted
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ansted have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansted
- Ansted is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,300 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ansted <6>
- Mabscott
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Sophia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sophia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sophia
- Sophia is located in Raleigh County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sophia <6>
- Meadow Bridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bridge
- Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Lester
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest) - Rhodell
(18 miles [29 km] to the south) - Pax
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Oswald. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Oswald.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Oswald. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oswald.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Oswald. See our Newspapers Page for Oswald.
Adding Oswald to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Oswald in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Oswald was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Oswald post office opened in 1906.
We also found Oswald on a map titled Rand McNally Map of West Virginia (1911).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Oswald.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Oswald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Raleigh, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Oswald - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (681) is an overlay for area code (304). |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |