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History · Bokchito

Bokchito’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Bokchito was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bokchito’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bokchito began, and where its name came from

When was Bokchito founded?

1894

The Bokchito post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 535 in 19102020 census: 574132 years

How did Bokchito get its name?

Bokchito was named for the local waterway, Bok Chito, which in the Choctaw language means "Big Creek."

Founding year: the first Bokchito post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bokchito’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.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1915, drew every building in Bokchito.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bokchito’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bokchito’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 viewTownsite Limits of New Rohchito, Chocta…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Bokchito, building by building, 1904–1915

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.

Bokchito fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Bokchito came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bokchito.

Read it all →

A post office was established at Bokchito, Indian Territory on August 11, 1894. It was named for the local waterway, Bok Chito, which in the Choctaw language means "Big Creek." Bokchito, Indian Territory was platted and incorporated by the federal government as a town within the Choctaw Nation on April 27, 1901. At that time, the population was estimated at 200.

When founded, Bokchito was located in Blue County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

Since the 1970s Bokchito has been known as "The Biggest Little Town in Oklahoma"

Notable people connected to Bokchito include decorated Vietnam war veteran Paul Fredrick May and author Ramiro Pesina. Dennis Rodman lived in Bokchito when he was in college.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bokchito, 1894 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Bokchito post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902In the archiveTownsite Limits of New Rohchito, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Depot Station Grounds …
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bokchito, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Townsite Limits of New Rohchito, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Depot Station Grounds on the Center Line of the Arka…1902Townsite Limits of New Rohchito, Choctaw Nation, Indi…
1910s–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
Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Bockchito2004OKMap-doton-Bockchito
On the map

Bokchito on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Bokchito on the 1969 USGS mapBokchito on the 1985 USGS map1969Bokchito sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bokchito.

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.

Townsite Limits of New Rohchito, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Depot Station Grounds on the Center Line of the Arka…
Retake this viewTownsite Limits of New Rohchito, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Depot Station Grounds on the Center Line of the Arka…, 1902

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bokchito, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 643

Between 466 and 643 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bokchito

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

See all →
Lowell FulsonAmerican musician · b. 1921
R
Ralph FaudreeAmerican mathematician, the provost of the Univ… · b. 1939
Ray Wylie HubbardAmerican musician · b. 1946
Charlie JohnsonAmerican football player · b. 1984
Gary RichardsonAmerican lawyer · b. 1941
Joe DobsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1917

Questions about Bokchito’s history

What year was Bokchito founded?

The Bokchito post office opened in 1894, 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 (2), 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.