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History · Fanshawe

Fanshawe’s post office opened in 1891

Most of Fanshawe was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1970.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fanshawe began

When was Fanshawe founded?

1891

The Fanshawe post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Maxey (1884), Caston (1887) and Kennady (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 199 in 19702020 census: 317135 years
Founding year: the first Fanshawe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fanshawe’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 Fanshawe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fanshawe, and 2 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1989. Watch Fanshawe change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fanshawe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fanshawe’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Fanshawe’s post office has been open since 1891. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Maxey
1884–1887
Caston
1887–1891
Kennady
1889–1915
Fanshawe
1891–today
Caston
1898–1898
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CastonKennady
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fanshawe
FanshaweHicks Chapel

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

On the map

Fanshawe on the map, 1909 to 1989

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

Fanshawe on the 1909 USGS mapFanshawe on the 1965 USGS mapFanshawe on the 1976 USGS mapFanshawe on the 1989 USGS map1909Winding Stair 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 Fanshawe.

The story

How Fanshawe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fanshawe.

Read it all →

A post office was established at Fanshawe, Indian Territory on March 31, 1891. The town was named after John R. Fanshawe, an employee of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, which built through the area in 1889–90; however, the town had no role in choosing the name. Railroad executives and investors made an inspection trip on the newly built line; at each designated station a name was drawn from a hat, and that name was used to designate the new town. At the time of its founding, Fanshawe was located in the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fanshawe, 1884 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Maxey post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Maxey post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Caston post office opens
  5. 1889Post officeThe Kennady post office opens
  6. 1891Post officeThe Caston post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1915Post officeThe Kennady post office closes
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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People over time

Fanshawe, census by census

0100200300400198020002020Peak: 419

Between 199 and 419 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fanshawe

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

See all →
Sim InessAthletics competitor · b. 1930
Dallas FrazierAmerican country musician and songwriter · b. 1939
T
Tim MeansMixed martial artist · b. 1984
Henry BurrisAmerican and Canadian football player · b. 1975
William Grady StiglerAmerican politician · b. 1891
Lane AdamsAmerican baseball player · b. 1989

Questions about Fanshawe’s history

What year was Fanshawe founded?

The Fanshawe post office opened in 1891, 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.