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History · Cleo Springs

Cleo Springs’ post office opened in 1894

Most of Cleo Springs was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cleo Springs began

When was Cleo Springs founded?

1894

The Cleo Springs post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cleo (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 425 in 19102020 census: 287132 years
Founding year: the first Cleo Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cleo Springs’ 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 Cleo Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 514 in 1980; 287 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cleo Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cleo Springs’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
People over time

Cleo Springs, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 514

Peaked at 514 in 1980; 287 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Cleo Springs, in brief

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

Cleo Springs (originally known as Cleo) is a town in Major County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 287 at the time of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 338 to 287 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Cleo Springs, 1894 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Cleo post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Cleo Springs post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Cleo Springs post office closes
  5. 1898Born hereSteve Owen is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1917Post officeThe Cleo post office closes
  8. 1917Post officeThe Cleo Springs post office opens
  9. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 514
By decade

Cleo Springs, decade by decade

Today2 recent
U.S. Route 602016U.S. Route 60OKMap-doton-CleoSprings2004OKMap-doton-CleoSprings
On the map

Cleo Springs on the map, 1969 to 1986

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

Cleo Springs on the 1969 USGS mapCleo Springs on the 1986 USGS map1969Cleo Springs 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 Cleo Springs.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cleo Springs had its own post office from 1894 to 1894. Another post office, Cleo, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cleo
1894–1917
Cleo Springs
1894–1894
Cleo Springs
1917–today
18901960today

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

Questions about Cleo Springs’ history

What year was Cleo Springs founded?

The Cleo Springs post office opened in 1894, 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 (2), 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) 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.