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C−History
History · Moore

Moore’s post office opened in 1889, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #97 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

Most of Moore was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Moore Public School Building. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.

1889first post office
1on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Moore’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Moore began

When was Moore founded?

1889

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

First census: 129 in 19002020 census: 62,793137 years

How historic is Moore?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Moore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Moore’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moore is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #97 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Moore’s overall grade.
Founding era1889, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.2) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 26%

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 Moore’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (37% 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 (±0.2 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 Moore’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.On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1995. Watch Moore change.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1922, drew every building in Moore.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Moore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Moore’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 viewFEMA - 766 - Photograph by Mannie Garci…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Moore on the map, 1892 to 1995

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

Moore on the 1892 USGS mapMoore on the 1934 USGS mapMoore on the 1956 USGS mapMoore on the 1969 USGS mapMoore on the 1975 USGS mapMoore on the 1986 USGS mapMoore on the 1995 USGS map1892Moore 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 Moore.

Every building

Moore, building by building, 1894–1922

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.

Moore fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 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 Moore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Moore.

Read it all →

The Moore post office was established May 27, 1889, during the Land Run of 1889 and was named for Al Moore, an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway employee. According to the town history he was a "conductor or a brakeman, lived in a boxcar at the camp and had difficulty receiving his mail. He painted his name – "Moore" – on a board and nailed it on the boxcar. When a postmaster was appointed, he continued to call the settlement Moore. When the town incorporated in 1893 the name was legalized."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Moore, 1889 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Moore post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1928BuiltMoore Public School Building is built
  6. 1971Born hereKellie Coffey is born here
  7. 1972Post officeThe Moore post office closes
  8. 1975Born hereDanny Cooksey is born here
  9. 1981Born hereRandy Wayne is born here
  10. 1996Born hereJustin Bean is born here
  11. 1999In the archiveFEMA - 766 - Photograph by Mannie Garcia taken on 05-06-1999 in Oklahoma
By decade

Moore, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
FEMA - 766 - Photograph by Mannie Garcia taken on 05-06-1999 in Oklahoma1999FEMA - 766 - Photograph by Mannie Garcia taken on 05-…
Today10 recent
FEMA - 44374 - FEMA PA officer documenting municipal refuse comntainer damages in OK2010FEMA - 44374 - FEMA PA officer documenting municipal …FEMA - 44373 - hail hole in fiberglass skylight2010FEMA - 44373 - hail hole in fiberglass skylightFEMA - 44372 - FEMA PA officer documenting damage to a hail damaged roof in OK2010FEMA - 44372 - FEMA PA officer documenting damage to …FEMA - 44371 - FEMA PA inspection of a hail damaged roof in OK2010FEMA - 44371 - FEMA PA inspection of a hail damaged r…FEMA - 44370 - FEMA PA officer documenting damages to a roof in OK2010FEMA - 44370 - FEMA PA officer documenting damages to…FEMA - 44369 - PDA team meeting in OK2010FEMA - 44369 - PDA team meeting in OKFEMA - 44367 - Storm information display stand in OK2010FEMA - 44367 - Storm information display stand in OKFEMA - 44364 - Roof repair workers in Oklahoma2010FEMA - 44364 - Roof repair workers in OklahomaFEMA - 44368 - PDA team briefing with map in OK2010FEMA - 44368 - PDA team briefing with map in OKMapOKMap-doton-Moore2004OKMap-doton-Moore
On the National Register

1 historic place in Moore

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Moore Public School Building
Moore Public School Building, built 1928
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic1
Moore Public School BuildingGothic · Built 1928

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

People over time

Moore, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,000190019201940196019802000202062,793

Grew from 129 people in 1900 to 62,793 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Moore

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

See all →
R
Randy WayneAmerican actor, dancer · b. 1981
Danny CookseyAmerican actor · b. 1975
J
Justin BeanAmerican basketball player · b. 1996
K
Kellie CoffeyAmerican musician · b. 1971
G
Gervarrius OwensAmerican football player · b. 1999
I
Isaac WhitneyAmerican football player · b. 1994
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Moore had its own post office from 1889 to 1972.

Moore
1889–1972
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Moore AirparkairportSouth Moore Oil Fieldoilfield
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Moore
MooreSmith

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Norman23 historic placesB−Oklahoma City148 historic placesB

Questions about Moore’s history

What year was Moore founded?

The Moore post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Moore rank for history?

Moore is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #97 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 Moore?

One place: the Moore Public School Building (listed 1984).

How old are the homes in Moore?

0.4% of Moore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 (11), 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.