Lindsay’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #98 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Lindsay was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Santa Fe Depot of Lindsay. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Lindsay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lindsay’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lindsay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #98 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lindsay’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 Lindsay’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.9 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 Lindsay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lindsay was founded in January 1902, when the Kiowa, Chickasha and Fort Smith Railway (an affiliate of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad companies were linking their lines halfway between Chickasha and Pauls Valley, a project completed in 1903. The AT&SF trains from Pauls Valley turned around at Lindsay, and the Rock Island trains from Chickasha did the same.
Lindsay was named after Lewis Lindsay, a local area farmer who donated 440 acres (180 ha) of land for the townsite. At the time of its founding, Lindsay was located in Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The Lindsay post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lindsay rank for history?
Lindsay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #98 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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.
What is on the National Register in Lindsay?
One place: the Santa Fe Depot of Lindsay (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Lindsay?
4% of Lindsay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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.
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