Guymon’s post office opened in 1901, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #84 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Texas County Courthouse and the Hotel Dale. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Guymon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Guymon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Guymon is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #84 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Guymon’s overall grade.
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 Guymon’s 1.6 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Guymon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the 1890s, Edward T. "E.T." Guymon, president of the Inter-State Land and Town Company, purchased a section of land west of the Beaver River, also known as the North Canadian River. The site grew very rapidly after the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (Rock Island) built a line from Liberal, Kansas, to Texhoma, Texas, in 1901. A community, first named Sanford by the U.S. Post Office Department, was situated along the line. It was renamed Guymon a month later by postal officials to avoid confusion with the town of Stratford, Texas, which was further down the line. Guymon incorporated in 1901. The town plat was filed in Beaver County, Oklahoma Territory, in 1904.
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.
The Guymon post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Guymon rank for history?
Guymon is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #84 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.
What is on the National Register in Guymon?
Two places: the Texas County Courthouse (listed 1984) and the Hotel Dale (2016).
How old are the homes in Guymon?
11% of Guymon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), 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) 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.
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