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History · Quay

The history of Quay

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on.

0on the National Register
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Quay’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Quay’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Quay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Quay came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Quay.

Read it all →

This community was originally named Lawson, for the townsite owner, Stonewall J. Lawson. A post office was established here January 17, 1894. Lawman Heck Thomas and his posse killed outlaw Bill Doolin in Lawson in 1896. Lawson was renamed Quay in honor of Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay on February 24, 1903.

Initially, Quay was an agricultural center. The discovery of oil nearby caused the population to mushroom from about one hundred to about four thousand during the early 1920s. Oil production dried up and the town population declined to 186 at the 1930 census.

The post office closed in 1957 and the school closed in 1965.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Quay, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Pawnee County - Quay - ED 59-2318801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Pa…
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Quay School Historic Site 7-20262026Quay School Historic Site 7-2026
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Pawnee County - Quay - ED 59-23
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Pawnee County - Quay - ED 59-23, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Quay’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Quay

Nobody well known was born in Quay itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
James MarsdenAmerican actor · b. 1973
Chet BakerAmerican jazz trumpeter and vocalist · b. 1929
Saginaw GrantNative American actor, dancer, motivational spe… · b. 1936
Lee HazlewoodAmerican singer, songwriter, record producer · b. 1929
Tyson RitterAmerican singer · b. 1984
C
Chester GouldAmerican cartoonist · b. 1900

Questions about Quay’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia 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.