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DHistory
History · Noble

Noble’s post office opened in 1889

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #111 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

Most of Noble was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1900.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Noble began

When was Noble founded?

1889

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

First census: 349 in 19002020 census: 6,985137 years

How historic is Noble?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Noble’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Noble is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #111 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Noble’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 19400.7% of homes (±0.8) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical OK town 5.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 15%

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 Noble’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 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 Noble’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 Noble are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1995. Watch Noble change.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1922, drew every building in Noble.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Noble’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Noble’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

Noble on the map, 1893 to 1995

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

Noble on the 1893 USGS mapNoble on the 1925 USGS mapNoble on the 1936 USGS mapNoble on the 1975 USGS mapNoble on the 1983 USGS mapNoble on the 1995 USGS map1893Norman 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 Noble.

Every building

Noble, building by building, 1898–1922

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.

Noble fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 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 Noble came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Noble.

Read it all →

On April 22, 1889, the day the first Oklahoma "Land Run" opened the Unassigned Lands in the middle of Indian Territory to settlers, J.W. Klinglesmith, Albert Rennie and several other businessmen forded the South Canadian River and laid claim to the 160-acre (65 ha) town site that was to become Noble. The town was named in honor of Secretary of the Interior John Noble, who was instrumental in opening the Unassigned Lands to settlement. The group had great plans for Noble, hoping it would become the future county seat.

ChaptersRose Rock Capital of the World

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Noble, 1889 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Noble post office opens
  3. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911Born hereAl Benton is born here
  6. 1918Born hereRosa Charlyne Creger is born here
  7. 1956Born hereDanny Sterling is born here
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
People over time

Noble, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,50019001920194019601980200020206,985

Grew from 349 people in 1900 to 6,985 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Noble

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

See all →
A
Al BentonBaseball player · b. 1911
R
Rosa Charlyne CregerAmerican aviator · b. 1918
Danny SterlingAmerican politician · b. 1956
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SlaughtervilleIts storyDNorman23 historic placesB−

Questions about Noble’s history

What year was Noble founded?

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

How does Noble rank for history?

Noble is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #111 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.

How old are the homes in Noble?

0.7% of Noble’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 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.