The story
Read it all →How Sallisaw came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Sallisaw.
French explorers and traders named this part of North America in the seventeenth century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Sallisaw
Sallisaw’s post office opened in 1888, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #74 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Sallisaw was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1900.
1888first post office
4on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
4famous people
Quick answers
How Sallisaw began, and where its name came from
When was Sallisaw founded?
1888
The Sallisaw post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Childer's Station (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 965 in 19002020 census: 8,510138 years
How did Sallisaw get its name?
The name Sallisaw was taken from the French word salaison, meaning "salt provisions" in English.
How historic is Sallisaw?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sallisaw post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sallisaw’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sallisaw is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #74 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 Sallisaw’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.1% of homes (±2.1) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register4 listings, 4.6 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 44%
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 Sallisaw’s 4.6 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Sallisaw’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Every building
Sallisaw, building by building, 1896–1918
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1896Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
4 historic places in Sallisaw
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Judge Franklin Faulkner House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Classical Revival1
Moderne1
Judge Franklin Faulkner HouseBuilt 1845
Hines Round BarnBuilding
First Presbyterian ChurchClassical Revival
All 4 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Timeline
Sallisaw, 1845 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1845BuiltJudge Franklin Faulkner House is built
- 1878Post officeThe Childer's Station post office opens
- 1888Post officeThe Childer's Station post office closes
- 1888Post officeThe Sallisaw post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902
In the archiveRight of Way - 1908Born hereBilly Hughes is born here
- 1915
Born hereJohn Jarman is born here - 1930
In the archiveMotel Western, Hwy 64 East, Sallisaw, Okla (83882) - 1967
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1983Born hereDerek Fine is born here
- 1984Born hereBrian Foster is born here
By decade
Sallisaw, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s–1930s11 items
1902Right of Wayc. 1930Motel Western, Hwy 64 East, Sallisaw, Okla (83882)
1936Drought farmers come to town. Sallisaw, Sequoyah Coun…
1936Main street during 1936 drought. Sallisaw, Sequoyah C…
1936Farmers on main street discussing drought. Sallisaw, …
1939Clothes of white agricultural day laborer's family dr…
1939Clothes of white agricultural day laborers drying on …
1939Indian boy between portraits of his ancestors. Near
1939Home of tenant farmer near Sallisaw, Oklahoma
1939Home of tenant farmer near Sallisaw, Oklahoma
1939Children of tenant farmer living near Sallisaw, Oklah…1940s–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 albumOn the map
Sallisaw on the map, 1967 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sallisaw. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Sallisaw sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sallisaw.
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.
Retake this viewRight of Way, 1902
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sallisaw’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Sallisaw, census by census
Between 965 and 8,880 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sallisaw’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Sallisaw
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Sallisaw’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Childer's Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Childer's Station
Sallisaw
18701950today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sallisaw
BuffingtonDuncanSallisaw
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Sallisaw’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Sallisaw’s history
What year was Sallisaw founded?
The Sallisaw post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sallisaw rank for history?
Sallisaw is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #74 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 Sallisaw?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Judge Franklin Faulkner House (listed 1980, the first).
How old are the homes in Sallisaw?
5% of Sallisaw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.