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–Not graded
History · Cole

Cole’s post office opened in 1912

Most of Cole was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1970.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Cole began

When was Cole founded?

1912

The Cole post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 131 in 19702020 census: 624114 years
Founding year: the first Cole post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cole’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 Cole are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1985. Watch Cole change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cole’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cole’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

Cole on the map, 1904 to 1985

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

Cole on the 1904 USGS mapCole on the 1965 USGS mapCole on the 1985 USGS map1904Chickasha 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 Cole.

The story

How Cole came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cole.

Read it all →

Cole was founded on 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land donated by Mrs. A. E. Cunningham and Judge Presley Cole. The town was named "Cole" after it was decided "Cunningham" was too long a name. Cole's first post office, created in 1912, was in the Cunningham home, though it was moved later to Read's General Merchandise Store.

The community was hit by an EF3 tornado on the evening of April 19, 2023, destroying multiple houses and killing two people.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cole, 1904 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1912Post officeThe Cole post office opens
  4. 1954Post officeThe Cole post office closes
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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People over time

Cole, census by census

0100200300400500600198020002020624

Grew from 131 people in 1970 to 624 in 2020, 4 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Cole

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

See all →
James GarnerAmerican film and television actor · b. 1928
Lee PaceAmerican actor · b. 1979
Karl Guthe JanskyAmerican physicist and radio engineer · b. 1905
Vince GillAmerican country musician · b. 1957
Don McNeillUS tennis player · b. 1918
Geraldyn M. CobbAmerican aviator · b. 1931
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Cole had its own post office from 1912 to 1954.

Cole
1912–1954
19101970today
Gone or out of use
West Washington Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Cole
Jerusalem

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BlanchardIts storyD−DibbleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewcastleIts storyD

Questions about Cole’s history

What year was Cole founded?

The Cole post office opened in 1912, 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.