More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #123 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Mannford was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Mannford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mannford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mannford is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #123 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mannford’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 Mannford’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 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 Mannford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town name is derived from "Mann's Ford", a crossing of the Cimarron River where Tom and Hazel Mann had received a Creek allotment. The Arkansas Valley and Western Railroad (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad (commonly called "Frisco") built a line through this area in 1902–03, making it an important cattle shipping point. A post office was established April 11, 1903.
When the Army Corps of Engineers began making plans for flood control that would flood the town of Mannford, citizens formed a plan to relocate several miles southeast of the original site. The move was completed in 1963.
The Mannford post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mannford rank for history?
Mannford is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #123 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.
How old are the homes in Mannford?
1% of Mannford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (2), 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) 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.
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