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History · Arcadia

Arcadia dates to 1889, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1990.

1889founded
4on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
1famous people
From Arcadia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arcadia began

When was Arcadia founded?

1889

Arcadia dates its founding to 1889 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1990.

First census: 320 in 19902020 census: 169137 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓

What stands out about Arcadia’s past

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

★ What stands out · On the map

Arcadia on the map, 1892 to 1966

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

Arcadia on the 1892 USGS mapArcadia on the 1935 USGS mapArcadia on the 1940 USGS mapArcadia on the 1966 USGS map1892Edmond 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 Arcadia.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Arcadia

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Arcadia Round Barn
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Round Barn1
Commercial Style1
Roadway1
All 4 listings

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

The story

How Arcadia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arcadia.

Read it all →

Arcadia was established soon after the Land Rush of 1889 and drew both white and African American cotton farmers, who named the land after the Greek town of Arcadia. A post office was established in 1890. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad constructed a line in 1902-3 from Bartlesville to Oklahoma City, passing immediately south of Arcadia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arcadia, 1880 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Oklahoma County - ED 55-1 - ED 78-198
  3. 1889
    FoundingArcadia is established
  4. 1890Post officeThe Arcadia post office opens
  5. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1898BuiltArcadia Round Barn is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1917BuiltTuton's Drugstore is built
  9. 1979In the archiveGibble Gas
  10. 1980In the archiveRound barn on U.S. 66
  11. 1995Born hereJordan Woodard is born here
By decade

Arcadia, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1960snothing 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
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Oklahoma County - ED 55-1 - ED 78-198
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Oklahoma County - ED 55-1 - ED 78-198, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Arcadia, census by census

010020030020002020Peak: 320

Between 169 and 320 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Arcadia’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Questions about Arcadia’s history

What year was Arcadia founded?

In 1889, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Arcadia’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1990 counted 320 people here.

What is on the National Register in Arcadia?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Arcadia Round Barn (listed 1977, the first), and 1 structure.

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 (6), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) 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.