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History · Alex

Alex’s post office opened in 1885, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1920.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Alex began

When was Alex founded?

1885

The Alex post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ireton (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 478 in 19202020 census: 482141 years
Founding year: the first Alex post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Alex’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 Alex are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 769 in 1980; 482 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Alex’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alex’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Alex, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 769

Peaked at 769 in 1980; 482 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Alex came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alex.

Read it all →

The town, now locally pronounced Elik, bears the name of an early settler, an intermarried Chickasaw, named William Vinson Alexander whose wife, Martha, served as the first postmistress, after the post office was established in Alexander's store in December 1885. Alexander established the First State Bank on October 3, 1907.

Alex was almost destroyed on July 7, 1906, when a tornado hit the town. The business district was mostly rebuilt a year later, with a drug store, a variety store and three general stores. The Alex Tribune newspaper was first published in 1907 and continued in business until the 1940s. The town incorporated in 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alex, 1885 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Alex post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Ireton post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1919Post officeThe Ireton post office closes
  6. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 769
By decade

Alex, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Alex2004OKMap-doton-Alex
On the map

Alex on the map, 1949 to 1981

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

Alex on the 1949 USGS mapAlex on the 1950 USGS mapAlex on the 1975 USGS mapAlex on the 1981 USGS map1949Rush Springs 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 Alex.

Every building

Alex, building by building, 1916

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 sheet.

Alex fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 1
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 Alex

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

See all →
Lee PaceAmerican actor · b. 1979
Don McNeillUS tennis player · b. 1918
Cleavon LittleAmerican actor · b. 1939
H
Harold HammAmerican businessman · b. 1945
Kendra HornU.S. representative from Oklahoma · b. 1976
Lester LaneAmerican basketball player · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Alex’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Ireton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alex
1885–today
Ireton
1898–1919
18801950today
1cemetery inside Alex
Ireton

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

Questions about Alex’s history

What year was Alex founded?

The Alex post office opened in 1885, 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 (1), 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.