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History · Tipton

Tipton’s post office opened in 1909, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Tipton Orphans Home. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1910.

1909first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Tipton began

When was Tipton founded?

1909

The Tipton post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 441 in 19102020 census: 864117 years
Founding year: the first Tipton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tipton’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 Tipton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,475 in 1980; 864 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1912 to 1930, drew every building in Tipton.Old housesHalf of Tipton’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tipton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tipton’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
People over time

Tipton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,475

Peaked at 1,475 in 1980; 864 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Tipton, building by building, 1912–1930

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.

Tipton fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 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.

The story

How Tipton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tipton.

Read it all →

The community was originally called Farmersville, but the name was changed to Stinson, honoring W. A. Stinson who owned the townsite. He sold the site to investors from Elk City. The town moved in 1909 to a location closer to the newly-laid Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway (acquired by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway in 1911). The townspeople voted to change the name again to Tipton, honoring John J. Tipton, conductor of the first train to pass through the area. A town plat was filed on July 29, 1909, and a post office was opened on September 18, 1909. The population was 441 in 1910.

During World War II, the U.S. government built a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp outside of town to house German soldiers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tipton, 1909 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Tipton post office opens
  3. 1924Born hereJohn G. Smith is born here
  4. 1930Born hereTroy Herriage is born here
  5. 1932Born hereGilmer Capps is born here
  6. 1946Born hereJerry Farley is born here
  7. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,475
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 map

Tipton on the map, 1955 to 1974

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

Tipton on the 1955 USGS mapTipton on the 1974 USGS map1955Lawton sheet · 1:250,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Tipton

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
2024
Tipton Orphans Home
Tipton Orphans Home
Buildings
All 1 listings
Tipton Orphans HomeBuilding · listed 2024

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Tipton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
Gilmer CappsAmerican politician · b. 1932
Jerry FarleyAmerican teacher · b. 1946
T
Troy HerriageAmerican baseball player · b. 1930
J
John G. SmithAmerican sportsman · b. 1924

Questions about Tipton’s history

What year was Tipton founded?

The Tipton post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Tipton?

One place: the Tipton Orphans Home (listed 2024).

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, 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.