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History · Hydro

Hydro’s post office opened in 1901, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Provine Service Station. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hydro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hydro began

When was Hydro founded?

1901

The Hydro post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 562 in 19102020 census: 927125 years
Founding year: the first Hydro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hydro’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hydro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hydro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hydro.

Read it all →

The town was founded on August 6, 1901. Built near the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, the settlement was originally called "Caddo", but when the post office was established in September 1901, the name was changed to "Hydro" in reference to the town's plentiful well water.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hydro, 1901 to 1964

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Hydro post office opens
  3. 1929BuiltProvine Service Station is built
  4. 1939In the archiveMail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near Hydro, Oklahoma
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hydro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
Mail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near Hydro, Oklahoma1939Mail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near Hydro, Oklaho…Field of wheat near Hydro, Oklahoma1939Field of wheat near Hydro, OklahomaMail box set up in milk can near Hydro, Oklahoma1939Mail box set up in milk can near Hydro, OklahomaDetail of burned out wheat near Hydro, Oklahoma. The extensive rains came too late to save some of the wheat in this se…1939Detail of burned out wheat near Hydro, Oklahoma. The …
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Downtown block2020Downtown blockOKMap-doton-Hydro2004OKMap-doton-Hydro
On the map

Hydro on the map, 1964 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hydro. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hydro on the 1964 USGS mapHydro on the 1985 USGS map1964Weatherford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hydro.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near Hydro, Oklahoma
Retake this viewMail box of Oklahoma tenant farmer near Hydro, Oklahoma, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hydro’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hydro

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
1997
Provine Service Station
Provine Service Station, built 1929
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow/Craftsman1
Provine Service StationBungalow/Craftsman · Built 1929

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

People over time

Hydro, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,060

Between 562 and 1,060 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Hydro’s history

What year was Hydro founded?

The Hydro post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hydro?

One place: the Provine Service Station (listed 1997).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.