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History · Calumet

Calumet dates to 1892, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1950.

1892founded
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Calumet’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Calumet began

When was Calumet founded?

1892

Calumet dates its founding to 1892 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 339 in 19502020 census: 443134 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1893.The full story ↓

What stands out about Calumet’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.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1979. Watch Calumet change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Calumet’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calumet’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Calumet on the map, 1893 to 1979

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

Calumet on the 1893 USGS mapCalumet on the 1941 USGS mapCalumet on the 1979 USGS map1893Fort Reno sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Calumet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calumet.

Read it all →

Calumet incorporated in 1942 in order to construct a town water system. Prior to its incorporation, the town existed as an unincorporated community with a post office, three combination mills and elevators, two general stores, a furniture store, and a hardware store.

The town lies in an area that in 1803 was part of the Louisiana Purchase. After the Organic Act of 1890 recreated the area as Oklahoma Territory, present-day Canadian County was designated as County Four and settled by non-Indian settlers through the Land Run of 1889, the Land Run of 1892, and a 1901 land lottery. The Land Run of 1892 opened up the surplus Cheyenne-Arapaho lands to non-Indian settlement, which opened up Calumet.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Calumet, 1880 to 1893

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Canadian County - ED 9-1 - ED 9-35
  3. 1886Born hereMike Balenti is born here
  4. 1892
    FoundingCalumet is established
  5. 1893Post officeThe Calumet post office opens
  6. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Calumet, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Canadian County - ED 9-1 - ED 9-3518801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Ca…
1890s–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
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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Canadian County - ED 9-1 - ED 9-35
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Canadian County - ED 9-1 - ED 9-35, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Calumet, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 560

Between 339 and 560 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Questions about Calumet’s history

What year was Calumet founded?

In 1892, according to Wikidata. Calumet’s post office opened in 1893, and the census of 1950 counted 339 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (1), 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) 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.