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History · Terlton

Terlton was first counted by the census in 1930

Most of Terlton was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1930.

1930first census
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Terlton began

When was Terlton founded?

1930

Terlton first appears in the census in 1930.

First census: 234 in 19302020 census: 7796 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Terlton’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 Terlton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Terlton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Terlton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Terlton.

Read it all →

The community started forming not long after the Cherokee Outlet opening on September 16, 1893. A post office was established November 30, 1894, and town was named Terlton for a member of the first territorial legislature, Ira N. Terrell. The Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) built through town in the 1902-1903 timeframe, and Terlton developed into a trade center for the local agricultural industry. Oil was discovered in the vicinity about 1914, and oil-related industries like pipelines, tank farms and refining supported the town into the 1930s. In more recent years, Terlton has become a commuter town whose residents work in other locations and commute back to Terlton to live.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Terlton, 1894 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Teriton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Born hereAb Wright is born here
  5. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Terlton on the map, 1970 to 1990

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

Terlton on the 1970 USGS mapTerlton on the 1983 USGS mapTerlton on the 1990 USGS map1970Terlton 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 Terlton.

People over time

Terlton, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 245

Between 77 and 245 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Questions about Terlton’s history

What year was Terlton founded?

The Terlton post office opened in 1930, 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 →
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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 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.