Sapulpa’s post office opened in 1889, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #33 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 56 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1900.
The Sapulpa post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hilton (1910), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 891 in 19002020 census: 21,929137 years
How historic is Sapulpa?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sapulpa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sapulpa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sapulpa is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #33 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sapulpa’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 Sapulpa’s 26.6 sits above most of its state (82% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 60 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 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 Sapulpa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Sapulpa, building by building, 1898–1920
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.
1898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The town was named after the area's first permanent settler, a full-blood Lower Creek Indian named James Sapulpa, from the Kasihta or Cusseta band, from Osocheetown in Alabama. About 1850, he established a trading post near the meeting of Polecat and Rock Creeks (about 1 mile or 1.6 km) southeast of downtown Sapulpa).
When the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (which became the Frisco) built a spur to this area in 1886 known as Sapulpa Station. The Sapulpa post office was chartered July 1, 1889, and the town was incorporated on March 31, 1898.
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.
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.
The Sapulpa post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sapulpa rank for history?
Sapulpa is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #33 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 Sapulpa?
7 listings: 4 buildings, among them the McClung House (listed 1980, the first), 2 historic districts, the West Sapulpa Route 66 Roadbed and the Sapulpa Downtown Historic District, with 56 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 60 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Sapulpa?
12% of Sapulpa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 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 (6), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1905
1940
1940
1940
1940
1979
1979
