Founding year: the first Thomas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Thomas’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thomas is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thomas’ 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 Thomas’ 8.5 sits near the middle of its state (61% 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 B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Thomas’ 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.
Thomas was named for William Thomas, who owned a general store and served as postmaster, when the first post office was established at the store on February 12, 1894, while this area was part of Oklahoma Territory. Joseph W. Morris claimed a homestead at the site during the Cheyenne-Arapaho opening in 1892. The Oklahoma Railway Townsite platted Morris' land in 1902, the same year that the Blackwell, Enid and Southwestern Railroad (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) constructed a line through Thomas. In 1906, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway (later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) also built a line through the town. Most of the early settlers were members of the Amish, the Dunkards, and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ religious groups.
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.
The Thomas post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Thomas rank for history?
Thomas is more historic than 62% 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 Thomas?
One place: the Thomas Community Building (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Thomas?
24% of Thomas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (7), 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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