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History · Attica

Attica’s post office opened in 1880, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How Attica began

When was Attica founded?

1880

The Attica post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 553 in 18902020 census: 516146 years
Founding year: the first Attica post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Attica’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Attica’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Attica’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the map

Attica on the map, 1889 to 1985

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

Attica on the 1889 USGS mapAttica on the 1891 USGS mapAttica on the 1972 USGS mapAttica on the 1985 USGS map1889Anthony sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Attica, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 845

Peaked at 845 in 1960; 516 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Attica came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Attica.

Read it all →

Land for the community was purchased in late June 1884 and became the end of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. The town was incorporated on February 16, 1885, with a population of 1,500 people. The population grew further until the Cherokee Outlet in northern Oklahoma was opened by a Land run in 1893, at which point many people moved south to that territory.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Attica, 1880 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Attica post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 845
By decade

Attica, decade by decade

Every building

Attica, building by building, 1893–1911

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Attica fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

Famous people close to Attica

Nobody well known was born in Attica itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Questions about Attica’s history

What year was Attica founded?

The Attica post office opened in 1880, 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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.