Jenks’ post office opened in 1905, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #102 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Its Register listing is the B. W. McLean House and Office. Most of Jenks was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Jenks post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jenks’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jenks is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #102 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 Jenks’ 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 Jenks’ 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (40% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Jenks’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Jenks began in 1904 as a community site established by the Midland Valley Railroad between Tulsa and Muskogee, alongside the Arkansas River. Though the river could only be utilized by shallow draft steamboats while the water level was up, these two transportation routes proved vital to Jenks' early development.
Jenks was named after William Henry Jenks the owner and director of the Midland Valley Railroad. According to a 1957 article in the Tulsa Tribune, an agent for the townsite company was told by the railroad home office to name a town for the director.
The Jenks post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Jenks rank for history?
Jenks is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #102 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 Jenks?
One place: the B. W. McLean House and Office (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Jenks?
1% of Jenks’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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