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History · Grayson

Grayson’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Grayson was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Grayson Jail. Below: the census since 1910.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Grayson began

When was Grayson founded?

1902

The Grayson post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wildcat (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 411 in 19102020 census: 127124 years
Founding year: the first Grayson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Grayson’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Grayson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grayson.

Read it all →

Grayson was originally named Wildcat and was located within the area that became McIntosh County at statehood. It was named for a Muscogee chief, George W. Grayson. The name changed when Grayson's post office was established February 10, 1902, although the legal town name remained as Wildcat into the 1960s. At statehood, the town had 375 residents. It grew slightly to 411 in 1910, then began to decline.

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture indicates it was an “All-Black Town,” one of more than fifty identifiable towns and settlements created by African-Americans within the borders of the current State of Oklahoma from 1865 to 1920.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Grayson, 1897 to 1927

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Wildcat post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Wildcat post office closes
  5. 1902Post officeThe Grayson post office opens
  6. 1927Post officeThe Grayson post office closes
By decade

Grayson, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Grayson Former School 6-20262026Grayson Former School 6-2026Grayson Clara Luper Marker 6-20262026Grayson Clara Luper Marker 6-2026Grayson City Hall 6-20262026Grayson City Hall 6-2026OKMap-doton-Grayson2004OKMap-doton-Grayson
On the National Register

1 historic place in Grayson

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
2024
Grayson Jail
Grayson Jail
Buildings
All 1 listings
Grayson JailBuilding · listed 2024

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

People over time

Grayson, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 411

Between 66 and 411 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Grayson had its own post office from 1902 to 1927. Another post office, Wildcat, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wildcat
1897–1902
Grayson
1902–1927
18901960today
1cemetery inside Grayson
Grayson

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

Questions about Grayson’s history

What year was Grayson founded?

The Grayson post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Grayson?

One place: the Grayson Jail (listed 2024).

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.