OLIVET

Olivet was a post office in Sand Creek Township from 1871 to 1874, but that is about all that various sources agree on.  From the Annals of Iowa list of abandon towns, by David Mott, 1929, the author states that “Olivet was a post office from 1871 to 1874 near the center of Sand Creek Township, about 2 miles east of Arispe”.   That would place it in section 15.   In George F. Cram’s, Map of Iowa, 1878, he places Olivet in section 20.   On a 1884 Map of Iowa from the University of Iowa Collection, Olivet is shown northeast of Arispe on the Chicago Great Western railroad in what would probably be section 8.  On the Woods Brothers & George F.  Cram Map of Iowa, 1893, Olivet appears to be in section 5 or 6.  About Half of all the maps, I searched, placed Olivet in section 20.

Another possibility is that since this was a post office in someone’s residence rather than an actual town, if the postmaster moved, then the post office moved to a new location with him.  It is quite possible that Olivet Post Office could have existed at several different locations.  David Mott explained this in his article of abandoned towns in the Annals of Iowa, 1929.