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History · Asher

Asher’s post office opened in 1901

Most of Asher was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Asher began

When was Asher founded?

1901

The Asher post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Avoca (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 381 in 19102020 census: 370125 years
Founding year: the first Asher post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Asher’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 Asher are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 659 in 1980; 370 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Asher’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Asher’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

Asher, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 659

Peaked at 659 in 1980; 370 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Asher came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Asher.

Read it all →

Asher dates back to 1892 when George "Matt" Asher, from Clay County, Kentucky, purchased land in Oklahoma Territory from a Shawnee estate salesperson to set up his farm home. The post office was established November 26, 1901, when the postmaster of nearby Avoca, Oklahoma, George A. McCurry, moved the Avoca post office and his store to the new community that would become Asher. This was done without permission from the government and left Avoca without a post office. According to the tale, McCurry was given a home and store building as payment for moving the post office to the new settlement. The town was named for Mr. Asher, who supplied the land with the consideration the community would carry his namesake, though he never lived there. There was a sale of public lots in 1902.

ChaptersBeginningsAvoca TownshipGrowthCounty Seat potentialEnd of the oil boomCentennialTimeline of major events

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Asher, 1894 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Avoca post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Asher post office opens
  5. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1906Post officeThe Avoca post office closes
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 659
By decade

Asher, decade by decade

Today6 recent
BowenFieldSign2006BowenFieldSignBowenField2006BowenFieldAsher Water tower2006Asher Water tower27 BANK CHECK200627 BANK CHECK1956 Speers Joseph20061956 Speers JosephOKMap-doton-Asher2004OKMap-doton-Asher
On the map

Asher on the map, 1901 to 1966

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

Asher on the 1901 USGS mapAsher on the 1966 USGS map1901Stonewall 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 Asher.

Every building

Asher, building by building, 1919

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.

Asher fire insurance map, 1919, sheet 11919Sheet 1 of 2
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 Asher

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

See all →
Blake SheltonAmerican country music singer and television pe… · b. 1976
Wanda JacksonAmerican singer, songwriter, pianist and guitar… · b. 1937
J
Jesse MashburnAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1933
H
Harold HammAmerican businessman · b. 1945
Oral RobertsChristian religious leader, healing evangelist,… · b. 1918
Willie StargellAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1940
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Asher’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Avoca, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Avoca
1894–1906
Asher
1901–today
18901960today

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

Questions about Asher’s history

What year was Asher founded?

The Asher post office opened in 1901, 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 (6), 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.