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DHistory
History · Elgin

Elgin’s post office opened in 1902

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #116 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

Most of Elgin was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elgin began

When was Elgin founded?

1902

The Elgin post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ceegee (1902), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 178 in 19102020 census: 3,656124 years

How historic is Elgin?

D

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Elgin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elgin is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #116 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elgin’s overall grade.
Founding era1902, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.8% of homes (±2.1) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical OK town 5.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 8%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 12%

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 Elgin’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Elgin’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 Elgin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elgin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elgin’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
The story

How Elgin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin.

Read it all →

Elgin developed as the Oklahoma City and Western Railroad (OCWR) (later absorbed by the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway) constructed a line from Chickasha, Oklahoma to Lawton, Oklahoma between 1901 and 1903. A post office was established in April 1902 and named "Ceegee", derived from Charles G. Jones, president of the OCWR and developer of the town. The railroad management objected to this name and demanded that it be changed. This was done in July 1902.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elgin, 1902 to 2000

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Ceegee post office opens
  3. 1902Post officeThe Ceegee post office closes
  4. 1902Post officeThe Elgin post office opens
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2000Born hereLogan Hall is born here
By decade

Elgin, decade by decade

Today4 recent
The contrasting colors between prairie grasses and an adjacent soybean field in late fall near Elgin, Oklahoma2020The contrasting colors between prairie grasses and an…The contrasting colors between prairie grasses and an adjacent soybean field in late fall near Elgin, Oklahoma2020The contrasting colors between prairie grasses and an…Silhouetted tree on Oklahoma's southern plains, near the city of Elgin2020Silhouetted tree on Oklahoma's southern plains, near …OKMap-doton-Elgin2004OKMap-doton-Elgin
On the map

Elgin on the map, 1949 to 1991

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

Elgin on the 1949 USGS mapElgin on the 1956 USGS mapElgin on the 1975 USGS mapElgin on the 1991 USGS map1949Elgin 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 Elgin.

People over time

Elgin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001920194019601980200020203,656

Grew from 178 people in 1910 to 3,656 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Elgin

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

See all →
L
Logan HallAmerican football player · b. 2000
Dusty DeeversAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Elgin’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, Ceegee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ceegee
1902–1902
Elgin
1902–today
19001960today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elgin
ElginElgin Memorial

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

Questions about Elgin’s history

What year was Elgin founded?

The Elgin post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elgin rank for history?

Elgin is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #116 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.

How old are the homes in Elgin?

3% of Elgin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 2010.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), 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.