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History · Afton

Afton’s post office opened in 1886, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Afton was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listings are the Horse Creek Bridge and the Cities Service Station. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Afton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Afton began

When was Afton founded?

1886

The Afton post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 606 in 19002020 census: 734140 years
Founding year: the first Afton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Afton’s past

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

Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1917, drew every building in Afton.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,518 in 1920; 734 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1986. Watch Afton change.
★ What stands out · Every building

Afton, building by building, 1894–1917

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.

Afton fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 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.

People over time

Afton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,518

Peaked at 1,518 in 1920; 734 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Afton on the map, 1907 to 1986

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

Afton on the 1907 USGS mapAfton on the 1971 USGS mapAfton on the 1986 USGS map1907Wyandotte 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 Afton.

The story

How Afton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Afton.

Read it all →

Afton developed in this part of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory after the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, or Frisco) built tracks through the area to Vinita in 1871. Regarding the town name, Oklahoma historian George Shirk states that a Scottish railroad surveyor, Anton Aires, named the town Afton after his daughter, while others have claimed the name comes from Robert Burns's poem, "Flow Gently Sweet Afton." In either case, Afton Aires' name and the Burns poem honor the River Afton in Scotland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Afton, 1886 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Afton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,518
  6. 1936BuiltHorse Creek Bridge is built
  7. 1982In the archiveGas station
By decade

Afton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s3 items
Gas station1982Gas stationGreen Acres Motel sign1982Green Acres Motel signLiquor store gas station1982Liquor store gas station
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
Date unknown4 to date
Acme Courts (NBY 437197)Date?Acme Courts (NBY 437197)Acme Courts (NBY 437198)Date?Acme Courts (NBY 437198)Rogers Motel (NBY 435724)Date?Rogers Motel (NBY 435724)Rogers Motel (NBY 435725)Date?Rogers Motel (NBY 435725)
Today9 recent
Afton School 8-20262026Afton School 8-2026Afton City Hall 8-20262026Afton City Hall 8-2026U.S. Route 602016U.S. Route 60U.S. Route 602016U.S. Route 60BNSF - Leaving2010BNSF - LeavingBNSF - Hello2010BNSF - HelloBNSF - Afton CO-OP2010BNSF - Afton CO-OPRoute 66 in2008Route 66 inAfton Station2008Afton Station
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.

Gas station
Retake this viewGas station, 1982

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Afton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Horse Creek Bridge
Horse Creek Bridge, built 1936Cities Service Station
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Steel Girder1
Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Horse Creek BridgeSteel Girder · Built 1936
All 2 listings
Cities Service StationBuilding · listed 1995

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Afton

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

See all →
Phil McGrawAmerican television personality · b. 1950
Jim EdgarAmerican politician · b. 1946
D
David FallDiver · b. 1902
Don PorterActor · b. 1912
L
Lucien BallardAmerican cinematographer · b. 1904
Ralph TerryAmerican baseball player · b. 1936
Help out

Start Afton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGas station: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Afton’s history

What year was Afton founded?

The Afton post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Afton?

Two places: the Horse Creek Bridge (listed 1995) and the Cities Service Station (1995).

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 (16), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.