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History · Slick

Slick’s post office opened in 1920

Most of Slick was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1930.

1920first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Slick’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Slick began

When was Slick founded?

1920

The Slick post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tabor (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 422 in 19302020 census: 151106 years
Founding year: the first Slick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Slick’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · By decade

Slick, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s17 items
Oil storage tanks. Slick, Oklahoma1940Oil storage tanks. Slick, OklahomaOil well on the pump. Slick, Oklahoma1940Oil well on the pump. Slick, OklahomaStreet scene in oil bust town1940Street scene in oil bust townOil draining from tanks into slush pit. Slick, Oklahoma1940Oil draining from tanks into slush pit. Slick, Oklaho…Abandoned building in the oil ghost town of Slick, Oklahoma1940Abandoned building in the oil ghost town of Slick, Ok…Cotton gin in the oil ghost town of Slick, Oklahoma1940Cotton gin in the oil ghost town of Slick, OklahomaDeserted bank building in the oil ghost town of Slick, Oklahoma1940Deserted bank building in the oil ghost town of Slick…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in oil bust town1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Street scene in …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Oil draining from tanks into slush pit. Slick, Oklahoma1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Oil draining fro…Abandoned railway station, now used as church, in the oil ghost town Slick, Oklahoma1940Abandoned railway station, now used as church, in the…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Deserted bank building in the oil ghost town of Slick, Oklahoma1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Deserted bank bu…Abandoned railway station, now used for a church, in the oil ghost town of Slick, Oklahoma. The railroad no longer goes…1940Abandoned railway station, now used for a church, in …
1950s–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 album
The story

How Slick came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Slick.

Read it all →

Slick began as an oil boom town in 1920, and was named for oilman Thomas B. Slick, who drilled a discovery well nearby. A railroad, the Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway, was completed into town the same year. By 1922, the town had an estimated population of 2500-3500.

However, production of oil began to decline in the latter part of 1923, and the railroad was abandoned by 1930. So when the town appeared for the first time in the U.S. census in 1930, the population was only 422, a figure which declined until 1950 and has since fluctuated. All of its employed citizens commute to work in Bristow, Sapulpa, and Tulsa.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Slick, 1903 to 1940

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Tabor post office opens
  3. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1920Post officeThe Slick post office opens
  5. 1928Post officeThe Tabor post office closes
  6. 1940In the archiveOil storage tanks. Slick, Oklahoma
On the map

Slick on the map, 1916 to 1973

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

Slick on the 1916 USGS mapSlick on the 1973 USGS map1916Bristow 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 Slick.

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.

Oil storage tanks. Slick, Oklahoma
Retake this viewOil storage tanks. Slick, Oklahoma, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Slick’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Slick, census by census

010020030040019401960198020002020Peak: 422

Between 124 and 422 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Slick

Nobody well known was born in Slick itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Woody GuthrieAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1912
William R. PogueAmerican astronaut · b. 1930
Lee HazlewoodAmerican singer, songwriter, record producer · b. 1929
W
Will SampsonMuscogee Creek actor from Oklahoma · b. 1933
Oscar PettifordAmerican musician · b. 1922
Mae YoungAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1923
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Slick’s post office has been open since 1920. Another post office, Tabor, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tabor
1903–1928
Slick
1920–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Tabor

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Slick’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOil storage tanks. Slick, Oklahoma: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Slick’s history

What year was Slick founded?

The Slick post office opened in 1920, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (17), 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.