Bartlesville’s post office opened in 1879, and 9 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #41 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Price Tower, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 50 buildings. Most of Bartlesville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Bartlesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bartlesville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bartlesville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #41 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bartlesville’s 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 Bartlesville’s 15.3 sits above most of its state (74% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 58 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Bartlesville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Bartlesville, building by building, 1907–1920
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.
Jacob Bartles, son-in-law of Delaware chief Charles Journeycake, moved from Wyandotte County, Kansas, to Indian Territory in 1873. He settled first at Silver Lake, a natural lake south of the present city of Bartlesville. In 1874, he opened a trading post and post office on Turkey Creek, in what is now East Bartlesville. In the following year, he bought a grist mill on the Caney River and modified it to produce flour. Bartles then built a two-story general store and residence, and added a rooming house, a blacksmith shop and a livery stable. Other settlers soon moved into the immediate area, which was then called Bartles Town. In 1880, Bartles moved his Turkey Creek post office to this town. Bartles then provided the community with electricity, a telephone system and a water distribution system.
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.
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 Bartlesville post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bartlesville rank for history?
Bartlesville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #41 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 Bartlesville?
9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Price Tower (a National Historic Landmark since 2007), 1 historic district, the Bartlesville Downtown Historic District, with 50 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 58 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bartlesville?
9% of Bartlesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.
★ Landmark
1904
1910
1917
1979
1979
1979
1979
2008
2008
2006
2004
