Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Hooker was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listings are the Hooker Woodframe Grain Elevator and the Elmer Baker Barn. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1910.
The Hooker post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hooker is more historic than 25% 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 Hooker’s 11.2 sits above most of its state (68% 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 Hooker’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hooker.
In 1902, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway laid tracks from Liberal, Kansas southwest through the Hooker area to Texhoma, Texas area. In 1904, the Chicago Townsite Company oversaw the organization and sale of town lots, and the city quickly grew. In 1927 the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad (BM&E) built an east–west line to Hooker.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hooker. 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 Hooker.
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.
1911Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn 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.
Between 525 and 1,918 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hooker’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Hooker post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Hooker is more historic than 25% 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 Hooker Woodframe Grain Elevator (listed 1983) and the Elmer Baker Barn (2012).
4% of Hooker’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), 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.
2024
