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History · Clearview

Clearview’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Clearview was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Abe Lincoln Trading Company. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1990.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Clearview began

When was Clearview founded?

1902

The Clearview post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 47 in 19902020 census: 41124 years
Founding year: the first Clearview post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Clearview’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 Clearview are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1985. Watch Clearview change.Boom and bustPeaked at 56 in 2000; 41 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clearview’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clearview’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
On the map

Clearview on the map, 1900 to 1985

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

Clearview on the 1900 USGS mapClearview on the 1967 USGS mapClearview on the 1985 USGS map1900Wewoka 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 Clearview.

People over time

Clearview, census by census

020002020Peak: 56

Peaked at 56 in 2000; 41 people lived here in 2020.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

The story

How Clearview came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clearview.

Read it all →

Clearview, Oklahoma, was founded in 1903 prior to statehood by J.A. Roper, Lemuel Jackson, and John Grayson, who established the Lincoln Townsite Company to attract settlers. Located along the Fort Smith and Western Railroad, Clearview was part of the Black Town Movement, which provided African Americans opportunities for landownership, self-governance, and economic independence.

In 1903, the Abe Lincoln Trading Company opened, serving as the town's primary trading post and commercial center. It provided local farmers with farming supplies, household goods, and building materials.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clearview, 1900 to 2000

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1902Post officeThe Clearview post office opens
  4. 1904Post officeThe Clearview post office closes
  5. 21st century
  6. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 56
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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On the National Register

1 historic place in Clearview

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2023
Abe Lincoln Trading Company
Abe Lincoln Trading Company
Buildings
All 1 listings
Abe Lincoln Trading CompanyBuilding · listed 2023

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Clearview

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

See all →
Woody GuthrieAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1912
William R. PogueAmerican astronaut · b. 1930
W
Will SampsonMuscogee Creek actor from Oklahoma · b. 1933
Clu GulagerAmerican actor · b. 1928
John HerringtonAmerican astronaut · b. 1958
Oscar PettifordAmerican musician · b. 1922
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Clearview had its own post office from 1902 to 1904.

Clearview
1902–1904
19001960today
1cemetery inside Clearview
Clearview

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

Questions about Clearview’s history

What year was Clearview founded?

The Clearview post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Clearview?

One place: the Abe Lincoln Trading Company (listed 2023).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.