Most of Stratford was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listing is the First National Bank Building. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Stratford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stratford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stratford is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stratford’s overall grade.
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 Stratford’s 7.5 sits near the middle of its state (58% 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 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 Stratford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
1908Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Stratford was originally the town of McGee, which was established in 1891. At the time, it was part of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation in an unorganized geographic region of the United States known as Indian Territory In 1906 the Oklahoma Central Railroad built the railroad two miles south of McGee. The town placed its buildings on wagons and wheeled them down to the train tracks. The new town was first named Walling, but by October 1906 the name was changed to Stratford. Stratford is known as the Peach Capital of the World and holds its Peach Festival, annual rodeo, and car show the third Saturday each July. The festival has been held since 1976, while the rodeo dates back to 1936.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Stratford, census by census
Between 685 and 1,525 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stratford’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Stratford’s history
What year was Stratford founded?
The Stratford post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stratford rank for history?
Stratford is more historic than 19% 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 Stratford?
One place: the First National Bank Building (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Stratford?
3% of Stratford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), 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.
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