More historic than 6% of U.S. towns · #120 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Broken Bow was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Broken Bow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Broken Bow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Broken Bow is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #120 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Broken Bow’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 Broken Bow’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 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 Broken Bow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land that would become Broken Bow was owned by the Choctaw tribe prior to being settled by non-native Americans. At the time of its founding, Broken Bow was located in Bok Tuklo County of the Apukshunubbee District, one of three administrative super-regions of the Choctaw Nation. Growing around a lumber company started by the Dierks brothers, Broken Bow had a population of 1,983 just a decade after its incorporation in 1911.
Other Dierks-associated legacies in town include Dierks Elementary School, Dierks Street, and Dierks Train #227 which is preserved in the town. The city lies within the Little Dixie region of Oklahoma, an area originally settled largely by Southerners seeking a new start following the Civil War.
The Broken Bow post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Broken Bow rank for history?
Broken Bow is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #120 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 Broken Bow?
2% of Broken Bow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1981.
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), 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.
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