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History · Bearden

Bearden’s post office opened in 1896, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1990.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bearden began

When was Bearden founded?

1896

The Bearden post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 142 in 19902020 census: 135130 years
Founding year: the first Bearden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bearden’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 Bearden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1985. Watch Bearden change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bearden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bearden’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
On the map

Bearden on the map, 1900 to 1985

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

Bearden on the 1900 USGS mapBearden on the 1967 USGS mapBearden on the 1985 USGS map1900Wewoka 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 Bearden.

The story so far

Bearden, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bearden yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bearden is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The locale is old enough to appear on a 1911 Rand McNally map of the county. The population was 135 at the 2020 Census. it is the birthplace of Benjamin Roden, a religious leader & founder of the Branch Davidians

Its first post office opened in 1896. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 133 in 2010, 135 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bearden, 1896 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Bearden post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1902Born hereBenjamin Roden is born here
  6. 1980Post officeThe Bearden post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Bearden, census by census

010020002020Peak: 142

Between 133 and 142 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bearden had its own post office from 1896 to 1980.

Bearden
1896–1980
18901960today
1cemetery inside Bearden
Bearden

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

Questions about Bearden’s history

What year was Bearden founded?

The Bearden post office opened in 1896, 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 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.