Pauls Valley’s post office opened in 1871, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #51 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Pauls Valley was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Pauls Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pauls Valley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pauls Valley is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Pauls Valley’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 Pauls Valley’s 36.3 sits above most of its state (85% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 (±2.1 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 Pauls Valley’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.
1894Sheet 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.
On the map
Pauls Valley on the map, 1898 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pauls Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1898Pauls Valley sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pauls Valley.
On the National Register
3 listings protect 22 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The area that eventually became the city of Pauls Valley was one of the earliest European-American settlements in what was then known as Indian Territory. Smith Paul, born in 1809 in New Bern, North Carolina, discovered the fertile bottom land which is now Pauls Valley while a member of a wagon train traveling to California. Paul described the land as "a section where the bottom land was rich and blue stem grass grew so high that a man on horseback was almost hidden in its foliage."
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.
The Pauls Valley post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pauls Valley rank for history?
Pauls Valley is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Pauls Valley?
Three places: the Garvin County Courthouse (listed 1985), the Pauls Valley Historic District (1979) and the Beaty School (2017).
How old are the homes in Pauls Valley?
6% of Pauls Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1909
1917
1917![[Farm work. Pauls Valley Training School. See 4833-4842.] Location: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma](https://images.townratings.com/story/14227/1a58b8f4f1d5313d1151-s.jpg)
1917
