Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Spiro

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
C+History
History · Spiro

Spiro’s post office opened in 1898, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Spiro was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Choctaw Agency. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1900.

1898first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Spiro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Spiro began

When was Spiro founded?

1898

The Spiro post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 543 in 19002020 census: 2,102128 years

How historic is Spiro?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Spiro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Spiro’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spiro is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spiro’s overall grade.
Founding era1898, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.3% of homes (±2.5) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 4.4 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder

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 Spiro’s 4.4 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 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 Spiro’s past

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

On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1978. Watch Spiro change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the map

Spiro on the map, 1900 to 1978

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

Spiro on the 1900 USGS mapSpiro on the 1911 USGS mapSpiro on the 1968 USGS mapSpiro on the 1978 USGS map1900Sallisaw 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 Spiro.

By decade

Spiro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
Display in post office. Spiro, Oklahoma1939Display in post office. Spiro, OklahomaFamily camped in the open near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Family camped in the open near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequo…Child of agricultural day laborer in tent home near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Child of agricultural day laborer in tent home near S…Child of agricultural day laborer in tent home near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Child of agricultural day laborer in tent home near S…Daughter of day laborer eating lunch in tent home near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Daughter of day laborer eating lunch in tent home nea…Tubercular wife of agricultural day laborer living on Poteau Creek near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Tubercular wife of agricultural day laborer living on…Daughter of agricultural day laborer coming out of tent where her uncle slept. Poteau Creek near Spiro, Oklahoma1939Daughter of agricultural day laborer coming out of te…Home of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day laborer living on Poteau Creek near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah County1939Home of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day l…Home of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day laborer living in Poteau Creek, near Spiro, Oklahoma. Sequoyah Coun…1939Home of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day l…Wife of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day laborer canning blackberries. Poteau Creek near Spiro, Oklahoma, Se…1939Wife of itinerant statue maker and agricultural day l…Children of agricultural day laborer sitting on an old automobile seat cushion. On Poteau Creek near Spiro, Oklahoma, S…1939Children of agricultural day laborer sitting on an ol…Home of agricultural day laborer's family who cared for his tubercular wife and two children. Poteau Creek near Spiro, …1939Home of agricultural day laborer's family who cared f…
1940s–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 Spiro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spiro.

Read it all →

In 1895 and 1896, the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (later owned by the Kansas City Southern Railroad) established a station at the present site of Spiro, which connected the area to the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. This railroad access attracted residents from the nearby town of Skullyville, and Spiro soon developed as the principal town in this area. The town population was 543 in 1900.

A post office was established at Spiro, Indian Territory on September 21, 1898. At the time of its founding, Spiro was located in Skullyville County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

Chapters1976 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spiro, 1898 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Spiro post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1905Born hereAlbert E. Brumley is born here
  6. 1939In the archiveDisplay in post office. Spiro, Oklahoma
  7. 1939Born hereDallas Frazier is born here
  8. 1956Born hereBill Blankenship is born here
  9. 1975Born hereHenry Burris is born here
Every building

Spiro, building by building, 1904

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 sheet.

Spiro fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Display in post office. Spiro, Oklahoma
Retake this viewDisplay in post office. Spiro, Oklahoma, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Spiro

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Choctaw Agency
Choctaw Agency
Sites
All 1 listings
Choctaw AgencySite · listed 1972

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Spiro, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,227

Between 543 and 2,227 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Spiro

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Dallas FrazierAmerican country musician and songwriter · b. 1939
Henry BurrisAmerican and Canadian football player · b. 1975
A
Albert E. BrumleyAmerican shape note music composer and publishe… · b. 1905
B
Bill BlankenshipAmerican football coach · b. 1956
R
Rod ShoateAmerican football player, linebacker · b. 1953
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Spiro’s post office has been open since 1898.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sunset Corner
1cemetery inside Spiro
Spiro City

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

Help out

Finish Spiro’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 viewDisplay in post office. Spiro, Oklahoma: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Spiro’s history

What year was Spiro founded?

The Spiro post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Spiro rank for history?

Spiro is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Spiro?

One place: the Choctaw Agency (listed 1972).

How old are the homes in Spiro?

6% of Spiro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1979.

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).

From the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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.