More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #109 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Bixby was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Bixby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bixby’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bixby is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #109 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bixby’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 Bixby’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 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 Bixby’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alexander Posey, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and his family settled in the area now known as Bixby in the late 1800s. He founded a community which was initially known as "Posey on Posey Creek." It included two saloons, a blacksmith shop, and a general store. The town became a government townsite with a post office in 1895. Located in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Indian Territory, Bixby was named in honor of Tams Bixby, a chairman of the Dawes Commission. The original 80-acre (32 ha) townsite plat was approved by the Dawes Commission in 1902. Many settlers were attracted to the area by the rich, though sometimes swampy river bottom land. In 1904 the Midland Valley Railroad named for Midland, Arkansas, laid tracks and built a depot about 1/2 mile north of the original town of Bixby. The railroad created factions that briefly split Bixby into two towns. The new part of town wa…
The Bixby post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bixby rank for history?
Bixby is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #109 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.
How old are the homes in Bixby?
1% of Bixby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (1), 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.
2025
