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History · Barnsdall

Barnsdall dates to 1905, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Bank of Bigheart and the Barnsdall Main Street Well Site. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.

1905founded
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Barnsdall’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Barnsdall began

When was Barnsdall founded?

1905

Barnsdall dates its founding to 1905 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 307 in 19102020 census: 1,034121 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1906.The full story ↓

What stands out about Barnsdall’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,099 in 1920; 1,034 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Barnsdall.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1985. Watch Barnsdall change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barnsdall’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnsdall’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewScene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklah…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Barnsdall, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,099

Peaked at 2,099 in 1920; 1,034 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Barnsdall’s post office has been open since 1921. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bigheart
1906–1921
Barnsdale
1911–1915
Barnsdall
1921–today
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Barnsdall Oil Fieldoilfield
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Barnsdall
Barnsdall CityReece

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

The story

How Barnsdall came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barnsdall.

Read it all →

The community was founded in 1905 and originally named Bigheart, for the Osage Chief James Bigheart. It was initially a 160-acre site along the Midland Valley Railroad in March 1905. The railroad opened Bigheart Station in September 1905 and the Bigheart Post Office opened in January 1906. The community was exempted from the Osage allotment, so lots could be sold to anyone. Lots were auctioned in May 1906. The first newspaper, the Bigheart Star, first appeared in 1906.

Chapters2024 tornadoes

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Barnsdall, 1905 to 1940

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905
    FoundingBarnsdall is established
  3. 1906Post officeThe Bigheart post office opens
  4. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1910In the archiveScene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma
  6. 1911BuiltBank of Bigheart is built
  7. 1911Post officeThe Barnsdale post office opens
  8. 1914BuiltBarnsdall Main Street Well Site is built
  9. 1915Post officeThe Barnsdale post office closes
  10. 1920Born hereJ. Edward Roush is born here
  11. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 2,099
  12. 1921Post officeThe Bigheart post office closes
  13. 1921Post officeThe Barnsdall post office opens
  14. 1939Born hereThomas F. Hall is born here
  15. 1940Born hereAnita Bryant is born here
By decade

Barnsdall, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Scene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma1910Scene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma
1920s–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
Today16 recent
Chestnut Avenue residence2024Chestnut Avenue residenceView down the narrow Candy Creek from the Chief James Bigheart Memorial Bridge in Osage County, Oklahoma2020View down the narrow Candy Creek from the Chief James…The Last Resort bar, presumably (considering its entry sign) including one or more billiards tables2020The Last Resort bar, presumably (considering its entr…The Cornerstone Community Church, fittingly located in a corner building2020The Cornerstone Community Church, fittingly located i…An aging, deteriorating mural2020An aging, deteriorating muralHay rolls, ready for winter storage at the Candy Creek Ranch near Barnsdall in Osage County, Oklahoma2020Hay rolls, ready for winter storage at the Candy Cree…Barn and silo at the farmstead of the Candy Creek Ranch near Barnsdall in Osage County, Oklahoma2020Barn and silo at the farmstead of the Candy Creek Ran…A study in stone and shadows in downtown Barnsdall, a small city in Osage County, Oklahoma2020A study in stone and shadows in downtown Barnsdall, a…Horses peer from the ochre-colored late fall grass near Barnsdall in Osage County, Oklahoma2020Horses peer from the ochre-colored late fall grass ne…Sign for Hub's shoe shop2020Sign for Hub's shoe shopA basically abandoned commercial block2020A basically abandoned commercial blockA basically abandoned commercial block2020A basically abandoned commercial blockA bovine resident at the Candy Creek Ranch near Barnsdall in Osage County, Oklahoma2020A bovine resident at the Candy Creek Ranch near Barns…Damaged farmhouse at the Candy Creek Ranch near Barnsdall in Osage County, Oklahoma2020Damaged farmhouse at the Candy Creek Ranch near Barns…Downtown scene2020Downtown sceneOKMap-doton-Barnsdall2004OKMap-doton-Barnsdall
On the map

Barnsdall on the map, 1909 to 1985

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

Barnsdall on the 1909 USGS mapBarnsdall on the 1910 USGS mapBarnsdall on the 1964 USGS mapBarnsdall on the 1985 USGS map1909Pawhuska 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 Barnsdall.

Every building

Barnsdall, building by building, 1922

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.

Barnsdall fire insurance map, 1922, sheet 11922Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Scene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma
Retake this viewScene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Barnsdall

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Bank of Bigheart
Bank of Bigheart, built 1911Barnsdall Main Street Well Site, built 1914
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Well Site1
All 2 listings
Bank of BigheartBuilding · listed 1984Barnsdall Main Street Well SiteSite · listed 1997

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Barnsdall

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

See all →
Anita BryantAmerican singer and activist · b. 1940
J. Edward RoushAmerican politician · b. 1920
Thomas F. HallUnited States admiral · b. 1939

Questions about Barnsdall’s history

What year was Barnsdall founded?

In 1905, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Barnsdall’s post office opened in 1906, and the census of 1910 counted 307 people here.

What is on the National Register in Barnsdall?

Two places: the Bank of Bigheart (listed 1984) and the Barnsdall Main Street Well Site (1997).

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 (3), the Library of Congress (14), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.