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History · Sentinel

Sentinel’s post office opened in 1899, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1910.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sentinel began

When was Sentinel founded?

1899

The Sentinel post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 857 in 19102020 census: 763127 years
Founding year: the first Sentinel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sentinel’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 Sentinel are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,269 in 1930; 763 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sentinel’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sentinel’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Sentinel, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,269

Peaked at 1,269 in 1930; 763 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Sentinel came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sentinel.

Read it all →

Located in southwestern Washita County, Sentinel lies at the intersection of State Highways 44 and 55. The town is primarily an agriculture-based community. The 1892 Cheyenne and Arapaho Opening brought non-Indians into the region. In 1898, R. B. Gore, a pioneer of Old Greer County, established a small general merchandise store in the area and applied for a post office. On March 6, 1899, the Post Office Department approved the application and designated the locale as Sentinel, Oklahoma Territory. The name originated from Cloud Chief's Herald-Sentinel newspaper. This store was approximately one mile east of the present town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sentinel, 1899 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899Post officeThe Sentinel post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Born hereJim Simmons is born here
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,269
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sentinel, decade by decade

Today1 recent
OKMap-doton-Sentinel2004OKMap-doton-Sentinel
On the map

Sentinel on the map, 1961 to 1984

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

Sentinel on the 1961 USGS mapSentinel on the 1984 USGS map1961Hobart sheet · 1:62,500

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

Questions about Sentinel’s history

What year was Sentinel founded?

The Sentinel post office opened in 1899, 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 Wikimedia Commons (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.