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History · Kemp

Kemp’s post office opened in 1890

Most of Kemp was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Kemp began

When was Kemp founded?

1890

The Kemp post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 221 in 19002020 census: 126136 years
Founding year: the first Kemp post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kemp’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 Kemp are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 396 in 1920; 126 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kemp’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Kemp, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 396

Peaked at 396 in 1920; 126 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Kemp came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kemp.

Read it all →

The incorporated town of Kemp, Oklahoma is located in the southern part of Bryan County, Oklahoma and was originally settled in the 1880s with the name of Warner Springs. The town was renamed Kemp, Indian Territory, in 1890 after prominent Chickasaw Legislator Jackson Kemp. The town is also in the southeast corner of Panola County of the Chickasaw Nation. It became part of Bryan County with the Statehood of Oklahoma in 1907.

The post office for the town of Kemp was established October 20, 1890. The town was surveyed and staked out August 8, 1901, and town lots were sold October 20, 1905.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kemp, 1890 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Kemp post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 396
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Kemp on the map, 1958 to 1980

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

Kemp on the 1958 USGS mapKemp on the 1980 USGS map1958Durant 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 Kemp.

Famous people

Famous people close to Kemp

Nobody well known was born in Kemp itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Chesley SullenbergerAmerican commercial airline pilot · b. 1951
John HillermanAmerican actor · b. 1932
Charlie ChristianAmerican swing and jazz guitarist · b. 1916
Buck OwensAmerican country singer-songwriter · b. 1929
Denean HowardAthletics competitor, sprinter, 400 metres runn… · b. 1964
K
Karen DaltonAmerican musician · b. 1937

Questions about Kemp’s history

What year was Kemp founded?

The Kemp post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.