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History · Geary

Geary’s post office opened in 1892, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Gillespie Building and the Public Water Trough. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1910.

1892first post office
2on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Geary’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Geary began

When was Geary founded?

1892

The Geary post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,452 in 19102020 census: 994134 years
Founding year: the first Geary post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Geary’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 1,892 in 1930; 994 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1902 to 1915, drew every building in Geary.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Geary’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Geary, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,892

Peaked at 1,892 in 1930; 994 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Geary, building by building, 1902–1915

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.

Geary fire insurance map, 1902, sheet 11902Sheet 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 Geary came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Geary.

Read it all →

The area occupied by the present city of Geary was previously part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation until it was opened in April, 1892 for settlement by non-Indians. Shuffle Huff and his son, William, filed several land claims in the area and sold two quarter sections to a land development company. A community was begun about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of its present location. Settlers moved the town to the present site to be located on the proposed route of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad line that was to be built west from El Reno.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Geary, 1880 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Blaine County - Geary - ED 6-13
  3. 1892Post officeThe Geary post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903BuiltGillespie Building is built
  6. 1927Born hereBilly McCray is born here
  7. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,892
  8. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Geary, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Blaine County - Geary - ED 6-1318801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Bl…
1890s–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
Today4 recent
The town of Geary, a small western Oklahoma town takes its place along old U.S. Highway 66 seriously2020The town of Geary, a small western Oklahoma town take…Public water trough 12017Public water trough 1Gillespie Building 12017Gillespie Building 1Geary water tower2011Geary water tower
On the map

Geary on the map, 1942 to 1979

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

Geary on the 1942 USGS mapGeary on the 1979 USGS map1942Geary 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 Geary.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Blaine County - Geary - ED 6-13
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Blaine County - Geary - ED 6-13, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Geary

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Gillespie Building
Gillespie Building, built 1903Public Water Trough
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Gillespie BuildingRomanesque · Built 1903
Public Water TroughStructure

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

Questions about Geary’s history

What year was Geary founded?

The Geary post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Geary?

Two places: the Gillespie Building (listed 1989) and the Public Water Trough (1989).

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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.