Tishomingo dates to 1852, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #73 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Tishomingo was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listings are the Tishomingo City Hall, the Chickasaw Hall and the Tishomingo Armory. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tishomingo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tishomingo is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #73 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tishomingo’s 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 Tishomingo’s 9.7 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±3.3 points). Two sources give 1852.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Tishomingo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1930, then more than doubled.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tishomingo’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Tishomingo on the map, 1901 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tishomingo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Tishomingo 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 Tishomingo.
Every building
Tishomingo, building by building, 1898–1918
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.
1898Sheet 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.
Tishomingo was named for Tishomingo, who died of smallpox on the Trail of Tears near Little Rock, Arkansas, after the Chickasaw had been removed in the 1830s from their original homelands in and around Tishomingo, Mississippi.
Before the founding of Tishomingo in 1852, the area was known as "Good Springs". Its several springs made the area an attractive campsite along the road between Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle. A small town had developed that replaced the old campsites with permanent structures and was renamed "Tishomingo" by 1856. That year it was designated as the Chickasaw capital. A post office was established in 1857.
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.
In 1852, according to Wikidata. Tishomingo’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1910 counted 1,408 people here.
How does Tishomingo rank for history?
Tishomingo is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #73 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 Tishomingo?
Three places: the Tishomingo City Hall (listed 1975), the Chickasaw Hall (1981) and the Tishomingo Armory (1994).
How old are the homes in Tishomingo?
4% of Tishomingo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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