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History · Rattan

Rattan’s post office opened in 1910

Most of Rattan was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1980.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rattan began

When was Rattan founded?

1910

The Rattan post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 332 in 19802020 census: 276116 years
Founding year: the first Rattan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Rattan’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rattan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1985. Watch Rattan change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rattan’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Rattan on the map, 1901 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rattan. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rattan on the 1901 USGS mapRattan on the 1971 USGS mapRattan on the 1985 USGS map1901Alikchi 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 Rattan.

The story

How Rattan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rattan.

Read it all →

Established in approximately 1910, Rattan was named for Rattan, Texas, from which a number of its early white settlers came.

Rattan, Texas—located in Delta County, twenty-one miles southwest of Paris, Texas—was named for local postal officer Clarence V. Rattan in 1893. Following Oklahoma's statehood in 1907 a number of Delta County families relocated to the new Pushmataha County, among them Akins, Akards, and Helms. The Delta County family (or families) apparently establishing itself in Rattan has not been identified.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Rattan, census by census

0100200300198020002020Peak: 332

Between 241 and 332 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rattan’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rattan

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

See all →
B. J. ThomasAmerican singer · b. 1942
Bill MoyersAmerican journalist · b. 1934
N
Nicole DeHuffAmerican actress · b. 1975
Kenny O'DellAmerican country music singer and songwriter · b. 1944
Ray Wylie HubbardAmerican musician · b. 1946
Jack RidleyAmerican aeronautical engineer and test pilot · b. 1915

Questions about Rattan’s history

What year was Rattan founded?

The Rattan post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.