Most of Union City was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listing is the Richardson Building. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1950.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union City is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Union City’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 Union City’s 5.8 sits near the middle of its state (54% 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 D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: the first census (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 Union City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1889, a post office opened for the community of Union. A townsite plat was filed during the following year. Union City began in 1890 with the arrival of the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway (acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1891). The local economy was based on agriculture, and within four years the town had three grain elevators and a farm machinery dealership.
On May 24, 1973, a tornado rated F4 struck the Union City area and was the first tornado widely documented by science as part of storm chasing field research. The National Severe Storms Laboratory placed numerous storm chasers around the tornado to capture the life cycle on film.
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 Union City post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Union City rank for history?
Union City is more historic than 18% 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 Union City?
One place: the Richardson Building (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Union City?
4% of Union City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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.
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