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History · Earlsboro

Earlsboro’s post office opened in 1895

Most of Earlsboro was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Earlsboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Earlsboro began, and where its name came from

When was Earlsboro founded?

1895

The Earlsboro post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Neal (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 638 in 19102020 census: 594131 years

How did Earlsboro get its name?

Earlsboro was named for James Earls, a local African American who had served as an orderly for Confederate General Joseph Wheeler during the Civil War.

More on the name

The spelling of the town name changed when the Earlsboro post office opened on June 12, 1895.

Founding year: the first Earlsboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Earlsboro’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1930 and 1970, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Earlsboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewEnrollment for Seminole Census Card 10: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Earlsboro, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001920194019601980200020201,950 in 1930Low: 248

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1930 and 1970, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Earlsboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Earlsboro.

Read it all →

The town of Earlsborough (as it was spelled on the town plat) began in 1891, when the Choctaw Coal and Railway (later the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad) built a line west from the Seminole Nation into Oklahoma Territory.

The town was located one-half mile inside Oklahoma Territory. It was named for James Earls, a local African American who had served as an orderly for Confederate General Joseph Wheeler during the Civil War. The spelling of the town name changed when the Earlsboro post office opened on June 12, 1895.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Earlsboro, 1894 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Born hereErnest McFarland is born here
  3. 1894Post officeThe Neal post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Earlsboro post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Post officeThe Neal post office closes
  7. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1922Born hereJimmy Liggins is born here
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,950
  10. 1940Born hereWillie Stargell is born here
By decade

Earlsboro, decade by decade

Date unknown4 to date
Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 10Date?Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 10Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 10Date?Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 10Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 11Date?Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 11Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 11Date?Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 11
Today4 recent
Post Office2017Post OfficeEarlsboro Town Hall2017Earlsboro Town HallEarlsboro Town Hall and Fire Station2017Earlsboro Town Hall and Fire StationEarlsboro, Oklahoma2009Earlsboro, Oklahoma
On the map

Earlsboro on the map, 1909 to 1967

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

Earlsboro on the 1909 USGS mapEarlsboro on the 1967 USGS map1909Shawnee sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 10
Retake this viewEnrollment for Seminole Census Card 10

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Earlsboro

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

See all →
Willie StargellAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1940
Ernest McFarlandAmerican politician and jurist from Arizona · b. 1894
J
Jimmy LigginsAmerican R&B guitarist and bandleader · b. 1922
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Earlsboro’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Neal, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Neal
1894–1907
Earlsboro
1895–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Neal
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Earlsboro
EarlsboroEarlsboro Cemetery - African American

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

Questions about Earlsboro’s history

What year was Earlsboro founded?

The Earlsboro post office opened in 1895, 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 Wikimedia Commons (8), 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) 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.