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History · Keota

Keota dates to 1904, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1920.

1904founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Keota began

When was Keota founded?

1904

Keota dates its founding to 1904 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 494 in 19202020 census: 437122 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1905.The full story ↓

What stands out about Keota’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 Keota are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1979. Watch Keota change.Boom and bustPeaked at 685 in 1970; 437 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keota’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keota’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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On the map

Keota on the map, 1900 to 1979

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

Keota on the 1900 USGS mapKeota on the 1911 USGS mapKeota on the 1967 USGS mapKeota on the 1979 USGS map1900Sallisaw 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 Keota.

People over time

Keota, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 685

Peaked at 685 in 1970; 437 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Keota came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keota.

Read it all →

The town was first called "KeeOtter", which was later changed to "Keota". The town's name may come from a Choctaw word meaning "the fire gone out", referring to an entire tribe being destroyed by disease, or may be derived from "Jim Keese", a rancher who owned the land where the townsite was located, and "Otter," for Otter Creek, a tributary of the Sans Bois Creek which winds its way through town.

Keota was founded in 1904 by the Midland Valley Railroad's land company, and a post office was established in 1905.

By 1911, the town supported several businesses, a hotel, and a lumberyard. The town supported local cotton growers, and was a railroad shipping point for their product.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keota, 1900 to 1970

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1904
    FoundingKeota is established
  4. 1905Post officeThe Keota post office opens
  5. 1930Born hereSim Iness is born here
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 685
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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Questions about Keota’s history

What year was Keota founded?

In 1904, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Keota’s post office opened in 1905, and the census of 1920 counted 494 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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, 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.