Located approximately eight miles south of Okmulgee and six miles north of Henryetta in Okmulgee County, just off U.S. routes 75 and 62, the original name of the town may have been Winchell. The town was added along the route of the St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, or Frisco) built between Okmulgee and Henryetta in 1900. The post office built in August 1903 was named for Matt Schulter, said to be a resident of St. Louis, Missouri. Coal mining in the Henryetta Coal Formation was an important early industry in the area, and attracted many nationalities of European immigrants. Early Schulter, circa 1909, had three coal company offices, phone service, a school, a general store, and even a pool hall for its 200 residents. Later, the town benefitted from oil exploration, production, and refining. The town's peak population may have been circ…
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.
