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History · Gage

Gage’s post office opened in 1895, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bank of Gage. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gage began

When was Gage founded?

1895

The Gage post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 924 in 19102020 census: 433131 years
Founding year: the first Gage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Gage’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1916, drew every building in Gage.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gage’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gage’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 photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Gage, building by building, 1905–1916

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.

Gage fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Gage came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gage.

Read it all →

Located in the central part of Ellis County on SH-46, thirteen miles north of the county seat, Arnett, and on SH-15, twenty-one miles southwest of Woodward, Gage developed primarily because of transportation access. The military road from Fort Supply to Fort Elliott/Mobeetie, Texas, passed near the future town, and two miles to the northwest a stage stop existed at the confluence of Little Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek. In 1887 the Southern Kansas Railway (later part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) had constructed a line across northwestern Oklahoma from Kansas to the Texas Panhandle. A station called Gage, named for Chicago railroad financier Lyman J. Gage, was established in July near Wolf Creek. Once the domain of various Plains Indian groups, by that time this region had become part of the Cherokee Outlet, opened to settlement by a land run in September 1893.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Gage, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Ground water for irrigation nearDate?Ground water for irrigation nearBook
Today1 recent
Gage, Oklahoma, Artesian Beach Park2015Gage, Oklahoma, Artesian Beach Park
On the map

Gage on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Gage on the 1969 USGS mapGage on the 1985 USGS map1969Gage 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 Gage.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Gage

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Bank of Gage
Bank of Gage
Buildings
Bank of GageBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Gage, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 924

Between 429 and 924 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Gage

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

See all →
J
James WorkmanAmerican rower · b. 1908
Troy RuttmanAmerican racing driver · b. 1930
Michael DunnAmerican actor and singer · b. 1934
Olin Earl TeagueAmerican politician · b. 1910
Bob FenimoreAmerican football player · b. 1925
D
Dr. Jerry GrahamAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1921

Questions about Gage’s history

What year was Gage founded?

The Gage post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gage?

One place: the Bank of Gage (listed 1983).

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.