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History · Ketchum

Ketchum dates to 1898

Most of Ketchum was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1940.

1898founded
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Ketchum began

When was Ketchum founded?

1898

Ketchum dates its founding to 1898 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 611 in 19402020 census: 471128 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ketchum’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ketchum’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJames Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ketchum came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ketchum.

Read it all →

The town was named for James Ketchum, a Delaware Indian and Methodist minister who had relocated to Indian Territory in 1867 from Wyandotte County, Kansas. The Post Office Department established the post office on September 15, 1899, at the original townsite. Ketchum was originally located in northeastern Mayes County, on the bank of the Grand River (Neosho River). It was relocated to southeastern Craig County around 1912 when the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad — which became the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G) in 1919 — was being constructed from southeastern Kansas south through the region. New Ketchum was platted in late 1912. The original townsite sat in an area that was later filled in by the creation of Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ketchum, 1850 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archiveJames Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe
  3. 1898
    FoundingKetchum is established
  4. 1899Post officeThe Ketchum post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ketchum, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
James Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe1850James Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe
Today5 recent
Ketchum Main St 8-20262026Ketchum Main St 8-2026Ketchum High Middle School 8-20262026Ketchum High Middle School 8-2026Ketchum Grand Playscape Park 8-20262026Ketchum Grand Playscape Park 8-2026Ketchum Elementary School 8-20262026Ketchum Elementary School 8-2026OKMap-doton-Ketchum2004OKMap-doton-Ketchum
On the map

Ketchum on the map, 1913 to 1971

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

Ketchum on the 1913 USGS mapKetchum on the 1971 USGS map1913Vinita 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 Ketchum.

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.

James Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe
Retake this viewJames Ketchum b1819 Delaware tribe, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ketchum, census by census

010020030040050060019401960198020002020Peak: 611

Between 238 and 611 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ketchum

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

See all →
Phil McGrawAmerican television personality · b. 1950
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player · b. 1931
Jim EdgarAmerican politician · b. 1946
Ralph TerryAmerican baseball player · b. 1936
E
Evelyn VardenAmerican actress · b. 1893
Mike SynarAmerican politician · b. 1950
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Langley1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrand Lake TowneIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ketchum’s history

What year was Ketchum founded?

In 1898, according to Wikidata. Ketchum’s post office opened in 1899, and the census of 1940 counted 611 people here.

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 (6), 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.