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History · Indianola

Indianola’s post office opened in 1891, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Choate Cabin. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1910.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Indianola began

When was Indianola founded?

1891

The Indianola post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 481 in 19102020 census: 148135 years
Founding year: the first Indianola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Indianola’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Indianola are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1914, drew every building in Indianola.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Indianola’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Indianola, building by building, 1904–1914

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.

Indianola fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Indianola came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Indianola.

Read it all →

Indianola probably began in 1875, when H. M. McElhany moved to the area and opened a one-room store. The store also served as a mail drop for local residents. The mail was delivered by horseback from the nearby town of Canadian, Oklahoma. McElhany stayed in business for about three years, then sold the store to Albert S. Cornelison and James H. Bynum. An actual post office was established at Indianola, Indian Territory on January 16, 1891, with Bynum being appointed as the first postmaster.

At the time of its founding, Indianola was located in Tobucksy County, Choctaw Nation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Indianola on the map, 1900 to 1971

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

Indianola on the 1900 USGS mapIndianola on the 1971 USGS map1900Canadian sheet · 1:125,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Indianola

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
1979
Choate Cabin
Choate Cabin
Buildings
Choate CabinBuilding

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

People over time

Indianola, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 481

Between 148 and 481 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Indianola’s history

What year was Indianola founded?

The Indianola post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Indianola?

One place: the Choate Cabin (listed 1979).

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 Wikidata (1), 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), 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.