Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Glencoe

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Glencoe

Glencoe dates to 1899, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1910.

1899founded
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Smallboy944 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Glencoe began

When was Glencoe founded?

1899

Glencoe dates its founding to 1899 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 373 in 19102020 census: 499127 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓

What stands out about Glencoe’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 Glencoe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glencoe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glencoe’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
The story

How Glencoe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glencoe.

Read it all →

Glencoe was founded in 1899 with the establishment of the Glenco Post Office on the Eastern Oklahoma Railway. The first lots were sold on April 15, 1900. After J. Hunter Williams, editor of the Glencoe Mirror, was named postmaster on January 4, 1901, he persuaded the U.S. Post Office Department to change the spelling of the town's name to Glencoe. Also that year, Glencoe was reported to be a sundown town, prohibiting African Americans from living or stopping in the town. In its early history Glencoe served as a trading center for the area and agriculture was the mainstay of the local economy. On January 22, 1914, a fire swept through downtown and destroyed most of the business district. While some businesses were rebuilt, the town's future growth was negatively affected by the fire.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Glencoe, 1899 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899
    FoundingGlencoe is established
  3. 1899Post officeThe Glenco post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Glenco post office closes
  6. 1901Post officeThe Glencoe post office opens
  7. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Glencoe, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Maveric Mini-Mart2020Maveric Mini-MartGlencoe High School Gym2020Glencoe High School GymGlencoe High School Entrance2020Glencoe High School EntranceGlencoe Elementary School2020Glencoe Elementary SchoolEntrance to Glencoe, Oklahoma from Lela, Oklahoma2020Entrance to Glencoe, Oklahoma from Lela, OklahomaOKMap-doton-Glencoe2004OKMap-doton-Glencoe
On the map

Glencoe on the map, 1929 to 1975

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

Glencoe on the 1929 USGS mapGlencoe on the 1932 USGS mapGlencoe on the 1975 USGS map1929Ripley 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 Glencoe.

People over time

Glencoe, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 601

Between 284 and 601 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Glencoe

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

See all →
James MarsdenAmerican actor · b. 1973
Chet BakerAmerican jazz trumpeter and vocalist · b. 1929
Saginaw GrantNative American actor, dancer, motivational spe… · b. 1936
Tyson RitterAmerican singer · b. 1984
C
Chester GouldAmerican cartoonist · b. 1900
Danny HodgeAmerican boxer, professional and amateur wrestl… · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Glencoe’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Glenco, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Glenco
1899–1901
Glencoe
1901–today
18901960today

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

Questions about Glencoe’s history

What year was Glencoe founded?

In 1899, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Glencoe’s post office opened in 1899, and the census of 1910 counted 373 people here.

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 (6), 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.