Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Spavinaw

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Spavinaw

Spavinaw’s post office opened in 1892, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1940.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Spavinaw’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Spavinaw began

When was Spavinaw founded?

1892

The Spavinaw post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 255 in 19402020 census: 350134 years
Founding year: the first Spavinaw post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Spavinaw’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18964 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Spavinaw change.Boom and bustPeaked at 623 in 1980; 350 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Spavinaw’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spavinaw’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSpavinaw OK (NBY 430816): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Spavinaw on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Spavinaw on the 1896 USGS mapSpavinaw on the 1901 USGS mapSpavinaw on the 1971 USGS mapSpavinaw on the 1985 USGS map1896Pryor sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Spavinaw, census by census

010020030040050060019401960198020002020Peak: 623

Peaked at 623 in 1980; 350 people lived here in 2020.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

The story

How Spavinaw came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spavinaw.

Read it all →

The town is named for Spavinaw Creek, a stream named by French traders and explorers who travelled here in the 18th century. According to historian Muriel Wright, the name was a corrupted form of the French word ce'pee (meaning "young growth or shoots of wood") plus the French adjective vineux (wine colored). This term referred to a description of the color of black jack, post, and red oak trees, which grow here in springtime.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spavinaw, 1892 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Spavinaw post office opens
  3. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1931Born hereMickey Mantle is born here
  6. 1940In the archiveSpavinaw OK (NBY 430816)
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 623
By decade

Spavinaw, decade by decade

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

1940s2 items
Spavinaw OK (NBY 430816)1940Spavinaw OK (NBY 430816)Spavinaw OK (NBY 430817)1940Spavinaw OK (NBY 430817)
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
Today4 recent
Spavinaw State Park Sign 8-20262026Spavinaw State Park Sign 8-2026Spavinaw Downtown 8-20262026Spavinaw Downtown 8-2026Spavinaw Community Center 8-20262026Spavinaw Community Center 8-2026OKMap-doton-Spavinaw2004OKMap-doton-Spavinaw
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.

Spavinaw OK (NBY 430816)
Retake this viewSpavinaw OK (NBY 430816), 1940

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Spavinaw’s history

What year was Spavinaw founded?

The Spavinaw post office opened in 1892, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.