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History · Mutual

Mutual’s post office opened in 1895, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mutual began

When was Mutual founded?

1895

The Mutual post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 264 in 19102020 census: 63131 years
Founding year: the first Mutual post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mutual’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 Mutual are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mutual’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mutual’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Mutual came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mutual.

Read it all →

A "Mutual" post office was designated on June 4, 1895. The town was incorporated in 1908. In 1910, the town had two churches, a bank, a feed mill, a machine shop, and a dealer in poultry and dairy products. The town also had a hotel early on.

The town fared well until the post World War I agricultural depression and the construction of U.S. Highway 270, meant to bypass the town. The town continued to decline until petroleum exploration and production in the 1970s and 1980s gave it a short boost. Mutual ended the 20th century with a half dozen businesses and 76 residents, some of whom commute to Woodward or Seiling for work.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
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On the map

Mutual on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Mutual on the 1969 USGS mapMutual on the 1985 USGS map1969Mutual 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 Mutual.

People over time

Mutual, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 264

Between 61 and 264 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Mutual

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

See all →
J
James WorkmanAmerican rower · b. 1908
Troy RuttmanAmerican racing driver · b. 1930
Darla HoodAmerican actress · b. 1931
Olin Earl TeagueAmerican politician · b. 1910
Bob FenimoreAmerican football player · b. 1925
H
Herbert SouthworthAmerican hispanist · b. 1908

Questions about Mutual’s history

What year was Mutual founded?

The Mutual post office opened in 1895, 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 Wikipedia, 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.