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History · Foss

Foss’ post office opened in 1900, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1910.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Foss began

When was Foss founded?

1900

The Foss post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 525 in 19102020 census: 101126 years
Founding year: the first Foss post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Foss’ 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 Foss are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1916, drew every building in Foss.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Foss’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Foss’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
Every building

Foss, building by building, 1904–1916

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 year, then a sheet.

Foss fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Foss came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Foss.

Read it all →

The history of Foss began when settlers from the area of the Wilson post office moved four miles north to the valley of Turkey Creek in the late 1890s. They initially wanted their new post office to be called Graham, but since that name was already taken it was named Maharg (an anagram of Graham). A flash flood on May 2, 1902, wiped out the town on Turkey Creek, destroying businesses and drowning several people. The town rebuilt on higher ground and was named Foss. The post office began operation on September 15, 1900.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Foss, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Foss State Park2022Foss State ParkOne can't easily see this broken-down building in the tiny Oklahoma community of Foss, along old U.S. Highway 66, espec…2020One can't easily see this broken-down building in the…A relatively red-earth hill along old U.S. Route 66 near the town of Foss in the southwestern U.S. state of Oklahoma2020A relatively red-earth hill along old U.S. Route 66 n…A fire truck is parked, inexplicably, outside this home in the tiny Oklahoma community of Foss, along old U.S. Highway …2020A fire truck is parked, inexplicably, outside this ho…An old and interesting-looking building in the tiny Oklahoma community of Foss, along old U.S. Highway 662020An old and interesting-looking building in the tiny O…OKMap-doton-Foss2004OKMap-doton-Foss
On the map

Foss on the map, 1957 to 1983

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

Foss on the 1957 USGS mapFoss on the 1983 USGS map1957Dill City 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 Foss.

People over time

Foss, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 525

Between 101 and 525 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Foss’ history

What year was Foss founded?

The Foss post office opened in 1900, 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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, 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.