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History · Empire City

Empire City’s post office opened in 1921

Most of Empire City was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1970.

1921first post office
0on the National Register
0.6%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Empire City began

When was Empire City founded?

1921

The Empire City post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 23 in 19702020 census: 703105 years
Founding year: the first Empire City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Empire City’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 Empire City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1970 and 1980, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Empire City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Empire City’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

Empire City, census by census

02004006008001,00019802000202023 in 1970Low: 13

Lost a third of its people between 1970 and 1980, then grew more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story

How Empire City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Empire City.

Read it all →

A classic oil-boom town, Empire City started in the late 1910s as drilling activity in Stephens County mushroomed. At its peak, its estimated population was about 3000. The original post office was established in February 1921 and discontinued in December 1934. With the boom long gone, the population by 1980 dwindled to just 13 persons. But the town started a rebound in the mid-1980s, though no post office has been reestablished.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Empire City, 1921 to 2010

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1921Post officeThe Empire City post office opens
  3. 1934Post officeThe Empire City post office closes
  4. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 955
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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On the map

Empire City on the map, 1962 to 1987

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

Empire City on the 1962 USGS mapEmpire City on the 1987 USGS map1962Temple 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 Empire City.

Famous people

Famous people close to Empire City

Nobody well known was born in Empire City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
R
Ron HowardAmerican film director, producer, and actor · b. 1954
Van HeflinAmerican actor · b. 1908
J
Jeane KirkpatrickAmerican diplomat and Presidential advisor · b. 1926
Leon RussellAmerican singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist … · b. 1942
N. Scott MomadayKiowa author and academic · b. 1934
Hoyt AxtonAmerican musician · b. 1938
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Empire City had its own post office from 1921 to 1934.

Empire City
1921–1934
19201970today
1cemetery inside Empire City
Oak Grove

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Duncan8 historic placesB−SunrayIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCentral HighIts storyDComancheIts storyC−

Questions about Empire City’s history

What year was Empire City founded?

The Empire City post office opened in 1921, 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 →
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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.