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History · Roosevelt

Roosevelt’s post office opened in 1901, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Roosevelt began

When was Roosevelt founded?

1901

The Roosevelt post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 298 in 19102020 census: 254125 years
Founding year: the first Roosevelt post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Roosevelt’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 Roosevelt are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 744 in 1940; 254 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Roosevelt’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roosevelt’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roosevelt’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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People over time

Roosevelt, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 744

Peaked at 744 in 1940; 254 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Roosevelt came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roosevelt.

Read it all →

According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the present town of Roosevelt was originally planned by Parkersburg Development Company before the opening of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation in 1901. At that time, the town was known as Parkersburg. However, another town by the same name already existed. Thus, the name was changed to Roosevelt by a townsite organizer, Charlie Parker, who had served under Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish–American War. A post office named Roosevelt was established October 31, 1901. President Theodore Roosevelt actually visited the town in 1903.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Roosevelt, 1901 to 1964

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Roosevelt post office opens
  3. 1917Born hereCliff Speegle is born here
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 744
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Roosevelt on the map, 1964 to 1985

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

Roosevelt on the 1964 USGS mapRoosevelt on the 1985 USGS map1964Roosevelt sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Roosevelt.

Questions about Roosevelt’s history

What year was Roosevelt founded?

The Roosevelt post office opened in 1901, 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, 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) 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.