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B+History
History · Stroud

Stroud’s post office opened in 1892, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #18 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it

14 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1900.

1892first post office
14on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Stroud’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Stroud began

When was Stroud founded?

1892

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

First census: 800 in 19002020 census: 2,719134 years

How historic is Stroud?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Stroud’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stroud is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #18 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stroud’s overall grade.
Founding era1892, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.1% of homes (±3.8) · typical OK town 7.0% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register14 listings, 15 historic buildings, 53.7 per 10,000 residents · typical OK town 5.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Oklahoma towns of 2,500+ (131)Ahead of 87%

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 Stroud’s 53.7 sits above most of its state (89% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). 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 Stroud’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1925, drew every building in Stroud.Landmarks on the Register14 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stroud’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stroud’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 viewMarketing cotton on streets of Stroud, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Stroud, building by building, 1898–1925

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.

Stroud fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

14 historic places in Stroud

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

places listed
14
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Moses Keokuk House
Stroud Trading Company BuildingJames W. Stroud House, built 1898Hadley House, built 1915Southwestern Bell Telephone Building, built 1929George Hughes House, built 1923Joseph Carpenter HouseWalter Hadley HouseHotel Lincoln, built 1924Stroud School, Old, built 1936William Alfred Mensch Building, built 1922Rock CafeMoses Keokuk HouseGraham HotelBon Ton House, built 1902
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Craftsman2
Romanesque1
Stick Style1
Bungalow1
Art Deco1
Prairie Style1
Stroud Trading Company BuildingRomanesque
James W. Stroud HouseStick Style · Built 1898
Hadley HouseBungalow · Built 1915
Southwestern Bell Telephone BuildingArt Deco · Built 1929
George Hughes HouseCraftsman · Built 1923
Joseph Carpenter HousePrairie Style
Walter Hadley HouseCraftsman
Hotel LincolnCommercial · Built 1924
All 14 listings
Stroud School, OldBuilding · listed 1997William Alfred Mensch BuildingBuilding · listed 2000Rock CafeBuilding · listed 2001Moses Keokuk HouseBuilding · listed 1973Graham HotelBuilding · listed 1979Bon Ton HouseBuilding · listed 1986

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

The story

How Stroud came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stroud.

Read it all →

Stroud was founded in 1892 and named for James W. Stroud, a developer. Early in its history, Stroud lay in Oklahoma Territory, where alcoholic drinks could be sold legally. Towns close to the boundary between Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were known as "whiskey towns," and had a reputation as a "wild" town due to its many saloons and other businesses catering to thirsty cowboys and travelers arriving from "dry" Indian Territory. These days were short-lived, however, because Oklahoma statehood in 1907, forced Stroud to become "dry" as well.

In 1901, after a race riot, Stroud became a sundown town, with a prominent sign warning African Americans not to stay overnight.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stroud, 1892 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Stroud post office opens
  3. 1898BuiltJames W. Stroud House is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1909In the archiveMarketing cotton on streets of Stroud, Okla
  6. 1915BuiltHadley House is built
  7. 1923BuiltGeorge Hughes House is built
  8. 1929BuiltSouthwestern Bell Telephone Building is built
  9. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Stroud, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Marketing cotton on streets of Stroud, Okla1909Marketing cotton on streets of Stroud, Okla
1910s–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
Today27 recent
RSSX 8216 (GP9u) at Stroud, Oklahoma on November 24, 20232023RSSX 8216 (GP9u) at Stroud, Oklahoma on November 24, …Stroud Fire Department2020Stroud Fire DepartmentStroud City Hall2020Stroud City HallRoute 66 Marker2020Route 66 MarkerPost Office2020Post OfficeFirst United Methodist Church2020First United Methodist ChurchFirst Christian Church2020First Christian ChurchFirst Christian Church, Stroud, Oklahoma 22020First Christian Church, Stroud, Oklahoma 2First Baptist Church2020First Baptist ChurchFirst Assembly of God2020First Assembly of GodStroud 062017Stroud 06Stroud 052017Stroud 05Stroud 042017Stroud 04Stroud 032017Stroud 03WilliamAlfredMenschBldgStroudOk2014WilliamAlfredMenschBldgStroudOkWalterHadleyHouse2014WalterHadleyHouseStroudTradingCoBldgStroudOk2014StroudTradingCoBldgStroudOkOzarkTrailsSectionRt66StroudOk2014OzarkTrailsSectionRt66StroudOkOldStroudSchoolStroudOk2014OldStroudSchoolStroudOkJosephCarpenterHouse2014JosephCarpenterHouseJamesWStroudHouseStroudOk2014JamesWStroudHouseStroudOkHotelLincolnStroudOk2014HotelLincolnStroudOkHadleyHouseStroudOk2014HadleyHouseStroudOkGeorgeHughesHouseStroudOk2014GeorgeHughesHouseStroudOkBonTonHouseStroudOk2014BonTonHouseStroudOkStroud Oklahoma2008Stroud Oklahoma2006-08-23 - Road Trip - Day 31 - United States - Oklahoma - Route 66 - Pawn Shop - We Have Guns and20062006-08-23 - Road Trip - Day 31 - United States - Okl…
On the map

Stroud on the map, 1974 to 1990

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

Stroud on the 1974 USGS mapStroud on the 1990 USGS map1974Stroud South sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Marketing cotton on streets of Stroud, Okla
Retake this viewMarketing cotton on streets of Stroud, Okla, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Stroud, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,148

Between 800 and 3,148 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Stroud’s history

What year was Stroud founded?

The Stroud post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Stroud rank for history?

Stroud is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #18 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 Stroud?

14 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Moses Keokuk House (listed 1973, the first). 15 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Stroud?

19% of Stroud’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1971.

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 Wikimedia Commons (27), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (14), Wikipedia, 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.