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History · Calvin

Calvin’s post office opened in 1895

Most of Calvin was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Calvin began

When was Calvin founded?

1895

The Calvin post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Riverview (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 570 in 19102020 census: 309131 years
Founding year: the first Calvin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Calvin’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 Calvin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18964 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1990. Watch Calvin change.Boom and bustPeaked at 700 in 1920; 309 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1915, drew every building in Calvin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Calvin’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Calvin on the map, 1896 to 1990

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

Calvin on the 1896 USGS mapCalvin on the 1900 USGS mapCalvin on the 1967 USGS mapCalvin on the 1990 USGS map1896Coalgate sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Calvin, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 700

Peaked at 700 in 1920; 309 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Calvin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calvin.

Read it all →

The present community of Calvin was established in 1895, when the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad ("CO&G") laid a line through the Choctaw Nation between McAlester (then in Indian Territory) and Oklahoma City (then in Oklahoma Territory). The community was initially called "Riverview", for its location on the south bank of the Canadian River. The Riverview post office was established on March 21, 1895, with John Wilbur as postmaster. The town and post office names were changed to Calvin in June of 1895, to honor the Choctaw landowner Calvin Perry. The Choctaw Nation Town Site Commission surveyed Calvin's site and divided it into 350 lots, which were then put up for sale.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Calvin, 1895 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Calvin post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Riverview post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Riverview post office closes
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 700
By decade

Calvin, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Calvin2004OKMap-doton-Calvin
Every building

Calvin, building by building, 1898–1915

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.

Calvin fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 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.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Calvin’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Riverview, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Calvin
1895–today
Riverview
1895–1895
18901960today
1cemetery inside Calvin
Calvin

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

Questions about Calvin’s history

What year was Calvin founded?

The Calvin post office opened in 1895, 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 (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.