Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Chandler

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B+History
History · Chandler

Chandler’s post office opened in 1891, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #17 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

19 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 18 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1900.

1891first post office
19on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chandler’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chandler began

When was Chandler founded?

1891

The Chandler post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wright (1892), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,430 in 19002020 census: 2,858135 years

How historic is Chandler?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Chandler post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Chandler’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chandler is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #17 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chandler’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.6% of homes (±6.8) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register19 listings, 37 historic buildings, 128 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 88%

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 Chandler’s 128 sits above most of its state (96% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). 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 Chandler’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Landmarks on the Register19 places on the National Register.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1920, drew every building in Chandler.Mystery photos6 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

19 historic places in Chandler

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
19
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
37
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Marshal William M. Tilghman Homestead
Boston Store, built 1900Chandler Bookstore, built 1903Clapp-Cunningham Building, built 1900Mascho Building and Public PrivyOleson-Crane BuildingSt. Cloud HotelWolcott Building, built 1903Conklin HouseFirst Presbyterian Church of ChandlerJohnson House, built 1897Chandler ArmoryCrane Motor Company Building, built 1917Chandler High SchoolNational Guard Statistical Building, built 1909St. Stephen's Episcopal ChurchFlynt Building, built 1902Phillips 66 Station No. 1423, built 1930Marshal William M. Tilghman HomesteadChandler Baseball Camp
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Victorian3
Commercial Style2
Colonial Revival2
Richardsonian Romanesque1
Romanesque1
Carpenter Gothic1
Boston StoreBuilt 1900
Chandler BookstoreVictorian · Built 1903
Clapp-Cunningham BuildingVictorian · Built 1900
Mascho Building and Public PrivyRichardsonian Romanesque
Oleson-Crane BuildingRomanesque
St. Cloud HotelCommercial Style
Wolcott BuildingVictorian · Built 1903
Conklin HouseColonial Revival
All 19 listings
First Presbyterian Church of ChandlerBuilding · listed 1984Johnson HouseBuilding · listed 1984Chandler ArmoryBuilding · listed 1991Crane Motor Company BuildingBuilding · listed 1995Chandler High SchoolBuilding · listed 1996National Guard Statistical BuildingBuilding · listed 1999St. Stephen's Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 2000Flynt BuildingBuilding · listed 2007Phillips 66 Station No. 1423Building · listed 2011Marshal William M. Tilghman HomesteadBuilding · listed 1976Chandler Baseball CampDistrict · listed 2011

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Chandler, building by building, 1898–1920

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.

Chandler fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Help out

Start Chandler’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo6 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGas pump, Route 66: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Chandler came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chandler.

Read it all →

Chandler was named after Judge George Chandler, also Assistant Secretary of the Interior. The site of Chandler was opened by a land run on September 28, 1891. The town had been planned to be opened on September 22 (the date of the Land Run of 1891), but the site survey had not been completed. The Chandler Post Office had opened on September 21, the day before the planned run. When Oklahoma Territory County A (Lincoln County) was organized, Chandler became the county seat. On March 30, 1897, a tornado destroyed most of the fledgling town and killed 14 residents.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chandler, 1891 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Chandler post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Wright post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900BuiltBoston Store is built
  6. 1900BuiltClapp-Cunningham Building is built
  7. 1903BuiltChandler Bookstore is built
  8. 1903BuiltWolcott Building is built
  9. 1904Post officeThe Wright post office closes
  10. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1907Born hereSam P. Gilstrap is born here
  12. 1913Born hereHal Spindel is born here
  13. 1937Born hereChuck McMurtry is born here
  14. 1979In the archiveGas pump, Route 66
  15. 21st century
  16. 2000Born hereDebbe Leftwich is born here
By decade

Chandler, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
Gas pump, Route 661979Gas pump, Route 66
1980s–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
Date unknown6 to date
Gibson's Cottage Camp and Apartments (NBY 433150)Date?Gibson's Cottage Camp and Apartments (NBY 433150)Gibson's Cottage Camp and Apartments (NBY 433151)Date?Gibson's Cottage Camp and Apartments (NBY 433151)Gibson's Court (NBY 437281)Date?Gibson's Court (NBY 437281)Hurst Lodge (NBY 436360)Date?Hurst Lodge (NBY 436360)Hurst Lodge (NBY 436361)Date?Hurst Lodge (NBY 436361)Lincoln County Court House (NBY 427645)Date?Lincoln County Court House (NBY 427645)
Today8 recent
The venerable "66 Bowl" sign is still, as of 2020, to be found on the U.S. Highway 66, but not in its longtime location2020The venerable "66 Bowl" sign is still, as of 2020, to…Neon sign for the vintage Lincoln Motel, a landmark2020Neon sign for the vintage Lincoln Motel, a landmarkChandlerBaseballCampChandlerOK2014ChandlerBaseballCampChandlerOKChandler, OK USA2014Chandler, OK USAChandler, OK USA - panoramio (2)2014Chandler, OK USA - panoramio (2)Vintage Phillips 66 Gas Station and historic cars, Route 662006Vintage Phillips 66 Gas Station and historic cars, Ro…Vintage Phillips 66 Gas Station and historic cars, Route 662006Vintage Phillips 66 Gas Station and historic cars, Ro…OKMap-doton-Chandler2004OKMap-doton-Chandler
On the map

Chandler on the map, 1905 to 1974

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

Chandler on the 1905 USGS mapChandler on the 1974 USGS map1905Chandler 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 Chandler.

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.

Gas pump, Route 66
Retake this viewGas pump, Route 66, 1979

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Chandler, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,100

Between 1,430 and 3,100 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Chandler

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Debbe LeftwichAmerican politician · b. 2000
C
Chuck McMurtryAmerican football player · b. 1937
H
Hal SpindelBaseball player · b. 1913
Sam P. GilstrapAmerican ambassador · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Chandler’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Wright, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Chandler
1891–today
Wright
1892–1904
18901960today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chandler
ClearviewOak ParkWright

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

Questions about Chandler’s history

What year was Chandler founded?

The Chandler post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Chandler rank for history?

Chandler is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #17 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.

What is on the National Register in Chandler?

19 listings: 18 buildings, among them the Marshal William M. Tilghman Homestead (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the Chandler Baseball Camp, with 18 contributing buildings. 37 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Chandler?

17% of Chandler’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1973.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (19), 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.