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History · Dibble

Dibble’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Dibble was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1940.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Dibble began

When was Dibble founded?

1894

The Dibble post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 97 in 19402020 census: 867132 years
Founding year: the first Dibble post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dibble’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 Dibble are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1980 and 1990, then grew 4-fold.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1985. Watch Dibble change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dibble’s collection

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

Dibble, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020348 in 1980Low: 181

Lost half of its people between 1980 and 1990, then grew 4-fold.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

On the map

Dibble on the map, 1904 to 1985

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

Dibble on the 1904 USGS mapDibble on the 1965 USGS mapDibble 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 Dibble.

The story

How Dibble came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dibble.

Read it all →

Located in western McClain County, for much of the nineteenth century the site of the present community existed in the Chickasaw Nation's Pontotoc County. According to historian George Shirk, John and James Dibble operated a ranch in the area and contributed their name to the town and to the creek that flows through it. The ranch lay on the Fort Smith to Fort Sill military road and served as a stopping point for soldiers and travelers. The village may have been in existence as early as 1869, and the Post Office Department designated a Dibble post office in 1894 with Horatio Orem as postmaster.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dibble, 1894 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Dibble post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 878
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Dibble

Nobody well known was born in Dibble 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
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

ColeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlanchardIts storyD−

Questions about Dibble’s history

What year was Dibble founded?

The Dibble 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 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.