History · Minco

Minco’s post office opened in 1890, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office

2on the National Register

10%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Minco began

When was Minco founded?

1890

The Minco post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 706 in 19102020 census: 1,500136 years

How historic is Minco?

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Minco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Minco’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Minco is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Minco’s overall grade.

Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194010.1% of homes (±3.0) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register2 listings, 8 historic buildings, 49.8 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%

NewerOlder

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 Minco’s 49.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). 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 Minco’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 Minco are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Minco change.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1910, drew every building in Minco.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Minco’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Minco’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

On the map

Minco on the map, 1893 to 1985

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

1893Minco sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Minco.

Every building

Minco, building by building, 1894–1910

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.

1894Sheet 1 of 1

Edition

Sheets

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Minco came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Minco.

Read it all →

Present-day Minco began as a settlement named Silver City on the Chisholm Trail. The community was initially a collection of tents housing Caddo, Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche tribesmen. It was approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of the present-day location. After the Rock Island extended its railroad track to the Chisholm Trail, the town physically moved to the end of the rail line and renamed itself Minco.

The town was originally included in the Chickasaw Nation. Minco is believed to be named after the great Chickasaw chief and warrior, Itawamba Minco, who later acquired the name of Levi Colbert, and who resided on Chickasaw land in Mississippi, near Cotton Gin Port.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Minco, 1890 to 1936

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

19th century
1890Post officeThe Minco post office opens
1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1936BuiltMinco Armory is built

By decade

Minco, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2004OKMap-doton-Minco

On the National Register

2 listings protect 8 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1994

Minco Armory

BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Works Progress Administration1

Bungalow/Craftsman1

Livestock Feeder Barn1

Minco ArmoryWorks Progress Administration · Built 1936

All 2 listings

Knippelmier FarmsteadDistrict · listed 2011

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Minco, census by census

Between 606 and 1,672 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Union City1 historic placeC⁻

Questions about Minco’s history

What year was Minco founded?

The Minco post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Minco rank for history?

Minco is more historic than 59% 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.

What is on the National Register in Minco?

Two places: the Minco Armory (listed 1994) and the Knippelmier Farmstead (2011).

How old are the homes in Minco?

10% of Minco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1973.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.

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