Most of Antlers was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listing is the Antlers Frisco Depot and Antlers Spring. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Antlers post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Antlers’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Antlers is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Antlers’ overall grade.
Oklahoma towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oklahoma town has 5.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Antlers’ 4.3 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Antlers’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1896Sheet 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.
On the map
Antlers on the map, 1901 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Antlers. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Antlers 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 Antlers.
Evidence exists of prehistoric occupation and activity within the city limits of present-day Antlers. Arrowheads are found periodically at sites throughout the town. Most of the prehistoric sites are atop hills, which the inhabitants could use for defensive purposes and found the most healthful.
A Mississippian culture settlement developed at Spiro Mounds, which was active from the mid-9th into the 15th century. This is the westernmost site of the culture and it is "one of the most important archeological discoveries in North America." The 80-acre site is preserved today as Oklahoma's only state archeological park.
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.
The Antlers post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Antlers rank for history?
Antlers is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Antlers?
One place: the Antlers Frisco Depot and Antlers Spring (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Antlers?
8% of Antlers’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1973.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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