Norman’s post office opened in 1889, and 23 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #58 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Norman was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 23 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Bizzell Library, University of Oklahoma, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 175 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.
The Norman post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Denver (1892) and Franklin (1892), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 787 in 18902020 census: 128,026137 years
How did Norman get its name?
Norman was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area's initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891.
How historic is Norman?
B−
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Norman is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #58 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Norman’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Norman ranks #250 on History.
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 Norman’s 14.9 sits above most of its state (73% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 193 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Norman’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 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 Norman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
The Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Before the American Civil War, the U.S. government began relocating the Five Civilized Tribes—the five Native American tribes that the United States officially recognized via treaty—to Oklahoma. Treaties of 1832 and 1833 assigned the area known today as Norman to the Creek Nation.
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.
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.
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.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Norman’s post office has been open since 1889. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Norman
1889–today
Denver
1892–1906
Franklin
1892–1906
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DenverFranklinHall ParkLittle Axe
Gone or out of use
East Norman Oil FieldoilfieldNaval Air Station NormanmilitaryNaval Air Technical Training Center NormanmilitaryNorman Oil FieldoilfieldNorman Townsite Oil FieldoilfieldNorthwest Noble Oil FieldoilfieldPata Skyhaven AirportairportSoutheast Newcastle Oil FieldoilfieldSoutheast Norman Oil Fieldoilfield
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Norman
BlackburnDenverFallsIndependenceIndependent Order of Odd FellowsRock Creek RoadSaint Joseph CatholicWarren
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Norman’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Norman post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Norman rank for history?
Norman is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #58 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 Norman?
23 listings: 19 buildings, among them the Bizzell Library, University of Oklahoma (a National Historic Landmark since 2001), and the President's House, University of Oklahoma (listed 1976, the first), and 5 historic districts with 175 contributing buildings. 193 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Norman?
3% of Norman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1988.
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), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (24), 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.
★ Landmark
1880
1889
1900
1917
1917
1979
1979
1979
