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History · Caney

Caney’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Caney was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1910.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Caney began

When was Caney founded?

1888

The Caney post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 295 in 19102020 census: 185138 years
Founding year: the first Caney post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Caney’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 Caney are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch Caney change.Boom and bustPeaked at 432 in 1920; 185 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Caney’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Caney’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

Caney on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Caney on the 1899 USGS mapCaney on the 1900 USGS mapCaney on the 1969 USGS mapCaney on the 1985 USGS map1899Atoka 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 Caney.

People over time

Caney, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 432

Peaked at 432 in 1920; 185 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Caney came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Caney.

Read it all →

A post office was established at Caney Switch, Indian Territory for a short time in 1879. The post office took its name from nearby Caney Creek, and referred to the cane brakes along the course of the waterway. The post office was reestablished one mile south as Caney, Indian Territory on June 20, 1888, taking its name from the former post office at Caney Switch. The communities were both station stops on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad.

At the time of their founding, the communities were located in Atoka County, Choctaw Nation, a part of the Pushmataha District.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Caney, 1888 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Caney post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 432
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Caney

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

See all →
Lowell FulsonAmerican musician · b. 1921
Patrick J. HurleyPolitician · b. 1883
R
Ralph FaudreeAmerican mathematician, the provost of the Univ… · b. 1939
Patrick SmithAmerican martial artist · b. 1963
Charlie JohnsonAmerican football player · b. 1984
Gary RichardsonAmerican lawyer · b. 1941

Questions about Caney’s history

What year was Caney founded?

The Caney post office opened in 1888, 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 Wikipedia, 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.