Dewey’s post office opened in 1899, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #47 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Dewey Hotel and the C.A. Comer House. Its Register listings are the Dewey Hotel and the C.A. Comer House. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Dewey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dewey’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dewey is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #47 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dewey’s overall grade.
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 Dewey’s 5.9 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±6.1 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 Dewey’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1899, Jacob Bartles moved his grist mill and trading post three miles north from Bartlesville to property he owned along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. He built the Dewey Hotel in the following year. The town was named for Admiral George Dewey. The first newspaper in town, the Dewey Eagle, began publication in 1900, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad came to Dewey in 1903. The community was incorporated December 8, 1905.
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.
The Dewey post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dewey rank for history?
Dewey is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #47 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 Dewey?
Two places: the Dewey Hotel (listed 1975) and the C.A. Comer House (2015).
How old are the homes in Dewey?
16% of Dewey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
