Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Farmers and Merchants National Bank and the Farmers Co-op Elevator. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1900.
The Hennessey post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hennessey is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Hennessey’s 7.8 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 2 listings 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 Hennessey’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hennessey. 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 Hennessey.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hennessey.
Hennessey is named after Pat Hennessey, an Irish freighter who was killed at the present townsite in April 1874. He was said to have been burned on a wagon wheel, either by native Cheyenne tribesmen or White horse thieves.
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.
In the archiveHennessey, OK: Plat of the Town of Hennessey, Oklahoma Territory in the S.E. ¼ of the N.W…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereLeon Crosswhite is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hennessey’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 1,228 and 2,287 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hennessey’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Hennessey post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Hennessey is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the Farmers and Merchants National Bank (listed 1984) and the Farmers Co-op Elevator (2000).
14% of Hennessey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (4), 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.
1898
2016
2004