Most of Salina was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Lewis Ross/Cherokee Orphan Asylum Springhouse. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Salina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salina’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salina is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salina’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 Salina’s 8.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). 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 Salina’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
For thousands of years indigenous peoples had lived along the rivers in this area, with varying cultures. By the time of European encounter, the Osage was a major tribe in the area. Their territory started at the Missouri River and extended west, including to parts of present-day Arkansas.
In 1541 the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and expedition passed through the area, as did the 1721 expedition of Bernard de la Harpe. They gave Spanish names to many of the local streams, which the Osage had already named.
The Salina post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Salina rank for history?
Salina is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Salina?
One place: the Lewis Ross/Cherokee Orphan Asylum Springhouse (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Salina?
5% of Salina’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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