Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #83 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Grove was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Corey House/Hotel. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1900.
The Grove post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Olympus (1885), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Grove was named for a grove of trees where it was sited.
A post office, named "Brennen", was located in the limits of present-day Grove in 1888, but the city was not incorporated until the 1890s.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grove is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #83 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Oklahoma towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oklahoma town has 5.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Grove’s 2.8 sits near the middle of its state (44% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grove’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grove.
From Wikipedia’s history of Grove.
Prior to Oklahoma statehood, Grove was part of the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. It was named for a grove of trees where it was sited. A post office, named "Brennen", was located in the limits of present-day Grove in 1888, but the city was not incorporated until the 1890s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
1905Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 314 people in 1900 to 6,956 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Grove’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Olympus, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Grove post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Grove is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #83 of 131 in Oklahoma. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Corey House/Hotel (listed 1982).
3% of Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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