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C+History
History · Davis

Davis’ post office opened in 1890, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #69 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Davis Santa Fe Depot. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Davis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Davis began

When was Davis founded?

1890

The Davis post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,346 in 19002020 census: 2,823136 years

How historic is Davis?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Davis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Davis is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #69 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Davis’ overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.0% of homes (±5.4) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 48%

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 Davis’ 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 Davis’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building9 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1923, drew every building in Davis.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Davis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAdditional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Davis, building by building, 1894–1923

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.

Davis fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Davis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Davis.

Read it all →

Davis is named after Samuel H. Davis, who moved to Washita in what was then Indian Territory in 1887. At the time of its founding, the community was located in Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation.

Davis owned a dry goods store, which was 4 miles (6 km) south of the current town of Davis. Davis submitted a petition for a Santa Fe depot to be built near his store, and the petition was accepted. In 1890, he successfully petitioned for a post office to be built. The post office was supposed to be named after Nelson Chigley, a Chickasaw man who owned the land on which the town was to be built. Chigley was already an Indian Territory name, so it was named after Davis. The town was established on November 16, 1898.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Davis, 1890 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Davis post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906In the archiveAdditional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s 5 and 8, Town 1, South Range, 2 East
  5. 1908BuiltDavis Santa Fe Depot is built
  6. 1915Born hereLonnie Summers is born here
  7. 1930In the archiveCedarvale Craft Shoppe, Highway 77, Davis, Okla (83673)
  8. 1937Born hereGerald Hurst is born here
  9. 1944Born hereDon E. Wilson is born here
  10. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Davis, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s2 items
Additional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s 5 and 8, Town 1, South Range, 2 East1906Additional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s 5 and 8, Town …Cedarvale Craft Shoppe, Highway 77, Davis, Okla (83673)c. 1930Cedarvale Craft Shoppe, Highway 77, Davis, Okla (8367…
1940s–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
Today3 recent
Davis, Oklahoma Santa Fe Depot2018Davis, Oklahoma Santa Fe DepotBedrè Fine Chocolate2013Bedrè Fine ChocolateA red dinosaur outside the fried pie store2012A red dinosaur outside the fried pie store
On the map

Davis on the map, 1957 to 1965

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

Davis on the 1957 USGS mapDavis on the 1965 USGS map1957Ardmore sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

Additional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s 5 and 8, Town 1, South Range, 2 East
Retake this viewAdditional Rt. Of Way in Sections No.s 5 and 8, Town 1, South Range, 2 East, 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Davis

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
1994
Davis Santa Fe Depot
Davis Santa Fe Depot, built 1908
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Davis Santa Fe DepotItalianate · Built 1908

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

People over time

Davis, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00019001920194019601980200020202,823

Grew from 1,346 people in 1900 to 2,823 in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Davis

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

See all →
D
Don E. WilsonAmerican mammalogist · b. 1944
G
Gerald HurstAmerican chemist · b. 1937
L
Lonnie SummersAmerican baseball player · b. 1915

Questions about Davis’ history

What year was Davis founded?

The Davis post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Davis rank for history?

Davis is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #69 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 Davis?

One place: the Davis Santa Fe Depot (listed 1994).

How old are the homes in Davis?

10% of Davis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.