Okemah’s post office opened in 1902, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #80 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Okfuskee County Courthouse and the Okemah Armory. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Okemah post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Okemah’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Okemah is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #80 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Okemah’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 Okemah’s 6.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). 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 Okemah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Historically occupied by the Osage and Quapaw, who ceded their lands to the United States by 1825, the area was assigned to the Creek Nation and specifically the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town after Indian Removal of tribes from the Southeast United States in the 1830s.
Okemah was named after a Kickapoo chief. In March 1902, Chief Okemah built a bark house in his tribe's traditional fashion. He had come to await the opening of the townsite, which took his name on April 22, 1902. In the Kickapoo language, okemah means "things up high," such as a highly placed person or town, or high ground.
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.
The Okemah post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Okemah rank for history?
Okemah is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #80 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 Okemah?
Two places: the Okfuskee County Courthouse (listed 1984) and the Okemah Armory (1998).
How old are the homes in Okemah?
11% of Okemah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1911
1911
