More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #110 of 131 in Oklahoma. What drives it
Most of Verdigris was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 2000.
Founding year: the first Verdigris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Verdigris’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Verdigris is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #110 of 131 in Oklahoma. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Verdigris’ 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 Verdigris’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oklahoma towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Verdigris’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Verdigris is named after the nearby Verdigris River, so named by French traders who settled in the area around the late 1700s. Several Native American tribes, including the Osage, Delaware and Cherokee, had populations along the Verdigris River. The rural community known as Verdigris has been in existence since before Oklahoma statehood in 1907. The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco) referred to the area as the "Verdigris Switch" in the late 1880s. Verdigris schools were founded in the early 1900s. America's Mother road, U.S. 66, was routed through Verdigris in the late 1920s.
Verdigris is the fastest growing municipality in Rogers County. The growth rate between 2000 and 2010 was 119%. The population at the 2010 census was 3,993.
The Verdigris post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Verdigris rank for history?
Verdigris is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #110 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.
How old are the homes in Verdigris?
0.9% of Verdigris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 7.0% for an Oklahoma town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 (2), 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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