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History · Bray

Bray’s post office opened in 1908

Most of Bray was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bray began

When was Bray founded?

1908

The Bray post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hope (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 952118 years
Founding year: the first Bray post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bray’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 Bray are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bray’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bray’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
The story so far

Bray, in brief

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

Bray is a town in Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located about 8 miles east of Marlow on Oklahoma State Highway 29. As of the 2020 census, the community had 952 residents. The town is old enough to appear on a 1911 Rand McNally map of the county.

Its first post office opened in 1908. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,209 to 952 (-21%).

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

Timeline

Bray, 1890 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Hope post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Bray post office opens
  5. 1913Post officeThe Hope post office closes
  6. 1983Born hereKatrina Elam is born here
  7. 1985Post officeThe Bray 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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bray had its own post office from 1908 to 1985. Another post office, Hope, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hope
1890–1913
Bray
1908–1985
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hope
Gone or out of use
Alford A Bratcher Airportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bray
ColbertCooperHope

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Duncan8 historic placesB−

Questions about Bray’s history

What year was Bray founded?

The Bray post office opened in 1908, 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, 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.