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History · Arapaho

Arapaho’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Arapaho was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1900.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Arapaho began

When was Arapaho founded?

1892

The Arapaho post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 253 in 19002020 census: 668134 years
Founding year: the first Arapaho post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Arapaho’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 Arapaho are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1950, then more than doubled.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1916, drew every building in Arapaho.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arapaho’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arapaho’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

Arapaho, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020713 in 1910Low: 311

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1950, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Every building

Arapaho, building by building, 1904–1916

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 year, then a sheet.

Arapaho fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Arapaho came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arapaho.

Read it all →

The area containing present Arapaho was surveyed by federally-contracted surveyors in 1891, prior to the Cheyenne-Arapaho land opening on April 19, 1892. A US post office was set up for the proposed community on March 23, 1892.

On April 19, 1892, the expected inrush of settlers did materialize; by sundown some 400 claims had been posted. The first town newspaper was issued 10 days later, titled The Arapahoe Arrow (by the end of the year its name had changed to The Arapahoe Bee).

Several Protestant church groups had been organized during the first few years. By 1894 the county courthouse and a school had been built. A lending library was in operation by May 1904.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arapaho, 1892 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Arapaho post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1923Born hereCot Deal is born here
  5. 1937Born hereClift Schimmels is born here
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 851
By decade

Arapaho, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Arapaho2004OKMap-doton-Arapaho
On the map

Arapaho on the map, 1957 to 1983

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

Arapaho on the 1957 USGS mapArapaho on the 1983 USGS map1957Clinton 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 Arapaho.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Arapaho

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

See all →
C
Cot DealAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1923
C
Clift SchimmelsAmerican football coach, Baptist speaker, and e… · b. 1937

Questions about Arapaho’s history

What year was Arapaho founded?

The Arapaho post office opened in 1892, 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, 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.