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History · Akins

Akins’ post office opened in 1894, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Akins was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Sequoyah's Cabin, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 2000.

1894first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Akins’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Akins began

When was Akins founded?

1894

The Akins post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sequoyah (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 449 in 20002020 census: 405132 years
Founding year: the first Akins post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Akins’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1973. Watch Akins change.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Sequoyah's Cabin, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Akins’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOld store: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Akins on the map, 1898 to 1973

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

Akins on the 1898 USGS mapAkins on the 1901 USGS mapAkins on the 1973 USGS map1898Tahlequah 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 Akins.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Akins

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
Sequoyah's Cabin
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Sequoyah's Cabin
Sequoyah's Cabin★
Buildings★ landmark
★ Landmark
Sequoyah's CabinBuilding

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

The story so far

Akins, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Akins yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Akins is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Akins had a population of 405. The post office existed from February 16, 1894, until December 31, 1943. It is said to be named for Robert Akins, a mail carrier. Sequoyah's Cabin, a national historic site, is located about two miles northeast of the town.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 493 to 405 (-18%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Akins, 1894 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Akins post office opens
  3. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920Post officeThe Sequoyah post office opens
  6. 1921Post officeThe Sequoyah post office closes
  7. 1939In the archiveOld store
  8. 1943Post officeThe Akins post office closes
  9. 1965LandmarkSequoyah's Cabin named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Akins, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
Old store1939Old storeUntitled photo, possibly related to: Old store1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Old storeOld schoolhouse1939Old schoolhouseOld school1939Old school
1940s–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
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.

Old store
Retake this viewOld store, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Akins, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 493

Between 405 and 493 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Akins

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

See all →
Cal SmithAmerican country musician · b. 1932
Joshua L. WheelerAmerican soldier · b. 1975
John JarmanSon of John Henry Jarman I and Gran. · b. 1915
Shawntel SmithMiss America 1996 · b. 1971
B
Brian FosterAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1984
D
Derek FinePlayer of American football · b. 1983
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Akins had its own post office from 1894 to 1943. Another post office, Sequoyah, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Akins
1894–1943
Sequoyah
1920–1921
18901960today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Akins
AkinsMillerSequoyah

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BrushyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStoney PointIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Akins’ history

What year was Akins founded?

The Akins post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Akins?

One place: the Sequoyah's Cabin (listed 1966).

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 the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.