Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Martha

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Martha

Martha’s post office opened in 1889, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1930.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Martha began

When was Martha founded?

1889

The Martha post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 327 in 19302020 census: 162137 years
Founding year: the first Martha post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Martha’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Martha are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Martha’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Martha, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Martha yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Martha is a town in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 162 as of the 2020 United States census. The town is located about 9 driving miles north-northwest of the county seat of Altus.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 162 in 2010, 162 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Martha on the map, 1964 to 1985

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

Martha on the 1964 USGS mapMartha on the 1985 USGS map1964Martha 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 Martha.

People over time

Martha, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 327

Between 162 and 327 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Martha

Nobody well known was born in Martha itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Margaret AveryAmerican actress · b. 1944
Robert Neelly BellahAmerican sociologist · b. 1927
Elmo WilliamsAmerican film editor, producer and director · b. 1913
M
Moon MartinAmerican singer, songwriter and guitarist · b. 1945
T
Thomas C. OdenAmerican theologian · b. 1931
Charles CollinsAmerican actor · b. 1904

Questions about Martha’s history

What year was Martha founded?

The Martha post office opened in 1889, 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 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.