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History · Leedey

Leedey’s post office opened in 1900

Most of Leedey was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1947 on and the census since 1920.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leedey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leedey began

When was Leedey founded?

1900

The Leedey post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 468 in 19202020 census: 415126 years
Founding year: the first Leedey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Leedey’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 646 in 1930; 415 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leedey’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLeedey Oklahoma after tornado: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Leedey, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 646

Peaked at 646 in 1930; 415 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Leedey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leedey.

Read it all →

The town was named for Amos Leedey, an early settler. The post office opened January 6, 1900, with Amos Leedey as the first postmaster. Leedey became a railroad town when the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway (later part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad) completed a line in from Elk City in 1911, and the town incorporated that same year. Both petroleum and agriculture contributed to the town’s growth.

On May 31, 1947, Leedey was hit by an F5 tornado. The tornado killed 7 people and heavily damaged the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leedey, 1900 to 1947

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Leedey post office opens
  3. 1921Born herePat Irwin is born here
  4. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 646
  5. 1931Born hereDarla Hood is born here
  6. 1947In the archiveLeedey Oklahoma after tornado
By decade

Leedey, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Leedey Oklahoma after tornado1947Leedey Oklahoma after tornado
1950s–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
Today2 recent
OKMap-doton-Leedey2004OKMap-doton-LeedeyWea03316 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library2002Wea03316 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library
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.

Leedey Oklahoma after tornado
Retake this viewLeedey Oklahoma after tornado, 1947

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Leedey

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Darla HoodAmerican actress · b. 1931
P
Pat IrwinAmerican judge · b. 1921

Questions about Leedey’s history

What year was Leedey founded?

The Leedey post office opened in 1900, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.