Most of Kiefer was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Kiefer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kiefer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kiefer is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kiefer’s 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 Kiefer’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±1.9 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 Kiefer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kiefer was originally known as "Praper" when a post office was first established in 1901. The St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) constructed a line south from Sapulpa through Praper between 1900 and 1901. The route is today operated by BNSF. Praper became an oil boom town by 1906, when it grew into a major shipping point for crude from the Glenn Pool field. The post office was renamed "Kiefer" on December 12, 1906. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the name honored at least one of three different people named Kiefer who lived in the area.
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.
The Kiefer post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kiefer rank for history?
Kiefer is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Kiefer?
4% of Kiefer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1910
1911
1911
1911
1911
1911
1912
2004
