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History · Keyes

Keyes dates to 1925, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1930.

1925founded
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Keyes’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Keyes began

When was Keyes founded?

1925

Keyes dates its founding to 1925 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 350 in 19302020 census: 276101 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1926.The full story ↓

What stands out about Keyes’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 627 in 1960; 276 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keyes’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keyes’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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Keyes, census by census

010020030040050060070019401960198020002020Peak: 627

Peaked at 627 in 1960; 276 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Keyes came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keyes.

Read it all →

Keyes was established in 1925 by the Elkhart and Santa Fe Railway (both leased to and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway). The company named the town after a deceased railroad engineer. The line is now part of the Cimarron Valley Railroad.

Keyes was also the final destination of the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad, which reached town from the east on June 25, 1931. That line was abandoned in 1972.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keyes, 1880 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Cimarron County - ED 13-1 - ED 13-11
  3. 20th century
  4. 1925
    FoundingKeyes is established
  5. 1926Post officeThe Keyes post office opens
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 627
  7. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Keyes, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Cimarron County - ED 13-1 - ED 13-1118801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Ci…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Cimarron County - ED 13-1 - ED 13-1118801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Ci…
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Keyes on the map, 1971 to 1982

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

Keyes on the 1971 USGS mapKeyes on the 1982 USGS map1971Keyes West sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Cimarron County - ED 13-1 - ED 13-11
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Cimarron County - ED 13-1 - ED 13-11, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Keyes’ history

What year was Keyes founded?

In 1925, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Keyes’ post office opened in 1926, and the census of 1930 counted 350 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 (2), 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.