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History · Dustin

Dustin’s post office opened in 1904, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Dustin Agricultural Building. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1910.

1904first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dustin began

When was Dustin founded?

1904

The Dustin post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Austin (1911), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 579 in 19102020 census: 327122 years
Founding year: the first Dustin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dustin’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 Dustin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 713 in 1920; 327 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dustin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dustin’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

Dustin, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 713

Peaked at 713 in 1920; 327 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Dustin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dustin.

Read it all →

The town was called Watsonville when its community first formed in the late 19th century. When the post office opened there on April 18, 1898, it was officially named Watsonville. The original site was 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the North Canadian River in the area then known as the Creek Nation in Indian Territory.

The post office site was moved 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the present site, and its name changed to Spokogee, on June 27, 1902, though the same person, Marion J. Butler, remained as postmaster. After the Fort Smith and Western Railroad built its Fort Smith–Guthrie line through the area in 1903, the town and post office were both officially changed to Dustin on May 9, 1904.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dustin, 1904 to 1967

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Dustin post office opens
  3. 1911Post officeThe Austin post office opens
  4. 1913Post officeThe Austin post office closes
  5. 1915Born hereJess Pike is born here
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 713
  7. 1936BuiltDustin Agricultural Building is built
  8. 1940Born hereJimmie Carole Fife Stewart is born here
  9. 1950Born hereSandy Fife Wilson is born here
  10. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dustin, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Dustin2004OKMap-doton-Dustin
On the map

Dustin on the map in 1967

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dustin.

Dustin on the 1967 USGS map1967Dustin 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 Dustin.

Every building

Dustin, building by building, 1920

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 sheet.

Dustin fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Dustin

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
1988
Dustin Agricultural Building
Dustin Agricultural Building, built 1936
Buildings
All 1 listings
Dustin Agricultural BuildingBuilding · listed 1988

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Dustin

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

See all →
J
Jess PikeAmerican baseball player · b. 1915
Sandy Fife WilsonMuscogee (Creek) fashion designer, artist and a… · b. 1950
J
Jimmie Carole Fife StewartMuscogee (Creek) art instructor, artist and fas… · b. 1940
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Dustin’s post office has been open since 1904. Another post office, Austin, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dustin
1904–today
Austin
1911–1913
19001960today

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

Questions about Dustin’s history

What year was Dustin founded?

The Dustin post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Dustin?

One place: the Dustin Agricultural Building (listed 1988).

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 (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.