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History · Garber

Garber’s post office opened in 1894, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Garber’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Garber began

When was Garber founded?

1894

The Garber post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 382 in 19102020 census: 725132 years
Founding year: the first Garber post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Garber’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,446 in 1920; 725 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1920, drew every building in Garber.Old housesHalf of Garber’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Garber’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garber’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHoy oil field 1917: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Garber, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,446

Peaked at 1,446 in 1920; 725 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Garber, building by building, 1905–1920

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.

Garber 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 Garber came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Garber.

Read it all →

The Garber family participated in the Land Run of 1893, claiming 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land that would become the city of Garber. The Enid & Tonkawa Railway built a line in 1899 that ran from North Enid to Billings, near the brothers' land. In October 1899, the Garber Town Company, owned by brothers Milton C. and Burton A. Garber, platted the town. Burton Garber was part-owner of the Garber Oil Company.

Ed Long (1934-2017), Oklahoma state senator and businessman, was born in Garber.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Garber, 1894 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Garber post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917In the archiveHoy oil field 1917
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,446
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Garber, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Hoy oil field 19171917Hoy oil field 1917
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Garber Oklahoma2007Garber Oklahoma
On the map

Garber on the map, 1956 to 1990

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

Garber on the 1956 USGS mapGarber on the 1982 USGS mapGarber on the 1990 USGS map1956Garber 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 Garber.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hoy oil field 1917
Retake this viewHoy oil field 1917, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Garber’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Garber’s history

What year was Garber founded?

The Garber post office opened in 1894, 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), 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.