Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1910.
The Phillips post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.
Phillips was named for Henry L. Phillips, a coal mine operator.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Phillips’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Phillips. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Phillips.
Peaked at 972 in 1920; 122 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Phillips’ Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Phillips.
A post office was established at Phillips, Indian Territory on April 2, 1892. It closed on April 2, 1927. It was named for Henry L. Phillips, a coal mine operator.
At the time of its founding, Phillips was located in Atoka County, a part of the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDenison and Washita Valley Railway. Map Showing. Additional Station Grounds at Phillips. …One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nobody well known was born in Phillips itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Phillips had its own post office from 1892 to 1927.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Phillips post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
