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History · Stuart

Stuart’s post office opened in 1896, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Stuart was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Stuart Hotel. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1930.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Stuart began

When was Stuart founded?

1896

The Stuart post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 535 in 19302020 census: 192130 years
Founding year: the first Stuart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stuart’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Stuart are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18964 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1990. Watch Stuart change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stuart’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Stuart on the map, 1896 to 1990

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

Stuart on the 1896 USGS mapStuart on the 1900 USGS mapStuart on the 1967 USGS mapStuart on the 1990 USGS map1896Coalgate 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 Stuart.

The story

How Stuart came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stuart.

Read it all →

In the late 19th Century, a settlement known as Hoyuby, Indian Territory, existed at this site in the Choctaw Nation. Hoyuby post office was established June 23, 1892, with John H. Elliott as the first postmaster. The community began growing after 1895, when the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (later the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad) built a line through Stuart, connecting it to McAlester and Oklahoma City. On April 14, 1896, the post office was renamed Stuart, in honor of Judge Charles Bingley Stuart of McAlester.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Stuart

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
1982
Stuart Hotel
Stuart Hotel
Buildings
All 1 listings
Stuart HotelBuilding · listed 1982

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

People over time

Stuart, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020Peak: 535

Between 180 and 535 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Stuart

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

See all →
Reba McEntireAmerican country singer and actress · b. 1955
Mary BlairAmerican artist · b. 1911
J
John BerrymanAmerican poet and scholar · b. 1914
Clu GulagerAmerican actor · b. 1928
John HerringtonAmerican astronaut · b. 1958
Micha HancockAmerican volleyball player · b. 1992

Questions about Stuart’s history

What year was Stuart founded?

The Stuart post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Stuart?

One place: the Stuart Hotel (listed 1982).

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.