Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Chester

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
–Not graded
History · Chester

Chester’s post office opened in 1895, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Chester began

When was Chester founded?

1895

The Chester post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 176131 years
Founding year: the first Chester post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Chester’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 Chester are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Chester’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Chester, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Chester is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Major County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 176, up from 117 in 2010. The post office opened April 8, 1895; the ZIP Code is 73838. It is said to have been named for Chester I. Long, U.S. senator from Kansas.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 117 to 176 (+50%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Chester on the map, 1972 to 1986

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

Chester on the 1972 USGS mapChester on the 1986 USGS map1972Seiling sheet · 1:24,000

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

Questions about Chester’s history

What year was Chester founded?

The Chester 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.