Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Allen

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Allen

Allen dates to 1883, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

1883founded
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Allen began

When was Allen founded?

1883

Allen dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1892.

2020 census: 805143 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓

What stands out about Allen’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 Allen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Allen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Allen’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
The story

How Allen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Allen.

Read it all →

The town was founded in 1883 by a group of white settlers who had arrived in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory in 1882 from Gainesville, Texas, led by Confederate Army veteran Doctor John Trigg Gilmore, his wife, Elizabeth Louise Oliveaux, their children, and relatives William and George McCall, with their respective families. They first settled in Cold Springs, northwest of the present town site, where other settlers soon joined them. The first log cabin was built in Allen in 1883, and this building was used as both a school and church. The town was named after the son of deputy United States marshal William McCall.

Allen, Oklahoma is the modern-day site of the Battle of Middle Boggy during the American Civil War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Allen, 1883 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883
    FoundingAllen is established
  3. 1892Post officeThe Allen post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911Born hereVallie Eaves is born here
  6. 1918Born hereMildred Clingerman is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Allen

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Mildred ClingermanAmerican book-collector and writer · b. 1918
V
Vallie EavesAmerican baseball player · b. 1911

Questions about Allen’s history

What year was Allen founded?

In 1883, according to Wikidata. Allen’s post office opened in 1892.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.