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History · O'Kean

O'Kean’s post office opened in 1875

Most of O'Kean was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1920.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How O'Kean began

When was O'Kean founded?

1875

The O'Kean post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 205 in 19202020 census: 192151 years
Founding year: the first O'Kean post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about O'Kean’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 O'Kean are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 291 in 1980; 192 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start O'Kean’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how O'Kean’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

O'Kean, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 291

Peaked at 291 in 1980; 192 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on O'Kean’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How O'Kean came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of O'Kean.

Read it all →

O’Kean was settled before the Civil War, and is named for the priest of the St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Father James O’Kean, who frequently stopped in the community en route to nearby Pocahontas. With the construction of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway in the 1870s, O’Kean expanded rapidly. A railroad tie manufacturing operation was among the businesses established in the city during the period. O’Kean incorporated in 1913.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

O'Kean, 1875 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe O'Kean post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe O'Kean post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1950Post officeThe O'Kean post office closes
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 291
By decade

O'Kean, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Okean-water-tower-ar2020Okean-water-tower-arOkean-post-office-ar2020Okean-post-office-arOkean-hwy-90-n-ar2020Okean-hwy-90-n-arOkean-hwy-90-ar2020Okean-hwy-90-arOkean-hwy-34-ar2020Okean-hwy-34-ar
On the map

O'Kean on the map, 1935 to 1965

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

O'Kean on the 1935 USGS mapO'Kean on the 1965 USGS map1935Walnut Ridge 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 O'Kean.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

O'Kean’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, O'kean, opened and closed inside today’s town.

O'kean
1875–today
O'kean
1895–1950
18701950today
Gone or out of use
O'Kean Schoolschool

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

Questions about O'Kean’s history

What year was O'Kean founded?

The O'Kean post office opened in 1875, 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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.