4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 44 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Newkirk’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newkirk is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Newkirk’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 Newkirk’s 230 sits above most of its state (100% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 47 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). Two sources give 1893.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Newkirk’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Newkirk is on land known as the Cherokee Outlet (popularly called the "Cherokee Strip"), which belonged to the Cherokee Indians until 1893. The Cherokee acquiesced to the demand of the president and Department of the Interior to sell the land, then part of Oklahoma Territory, to the U.S. government. Efforts to buy the land from the Cherokee began in 1889, but were not concluded until 1893 when Congress authorized the purchase and the land was opened to non-Indian settlement by means of the Cherokee Strip Land Run on September 16, 1893. An estimated 100,000 people raced to claim plots of land.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 1,754 and 2,533 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Newkirk’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Newkirk’s history
What year was Newkirk founded?
In 1893, according to Wikidata. Newkirk’s post office opened in 1894, and the census of 1900 counted 1,754 people here.
How does Newkirk rank for history?
Newkirk is more historic than 82% 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 Newkirk?
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 historic district, the Newkirk Central Business District, with 44 contributing buildings. 47 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Newkirk?
28% of Newkirk’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
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