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History · Weleetka

Weleetka’s post office opened in 1902, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Weleetka Town Hall and Jail. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Weleetka began

When was Weleetka founded?

1902

The Weleetka post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,229 in 19102020 census: 806124 years
Founding year: the first Weleetka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Weleetka’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1985. Watch Weleetka change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,042 in 1930; 806 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1918, drew every building in Weleetka.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Weleetka’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Weleetka’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Weleetka on the map, 1900 to 1985

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

Weleetka on the 1900 USGS mapWeleetka on the 1967 USGS mapWeleetka on the 1985 USGS map1900Wewoka 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 Weleetka.

People over time

Weleetka, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,042

Peaked at 2,042 in 1930; 806 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Weleetka came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Weleetka.

Read it all →

According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the present town of Weleetka was founded by three men from other communities who were having difficulty surviving in the newspaper business. These men, George F. Clarke of Vinita, Lake Moore of Fairland and John Jacobs of Holdenville, decided in 1899 to form a partnership and find a new town where they might find prosperity together. They had already learned that the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (SL&SF or "Frisco") was building a line southward from Sapulpa, Indian Territory, to Denison, Texas. Clarke and Moore knew that the Fort Smith and Western Railway was laying a line westward from Indian Territory to Guthrie, in Oklahoma Territory. The partners decided to establish a town at the junction of the two railroads. The partners selected a suitable town site on a hill just north of the Canadian River that was owned by …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Weleetka, 1900 to 1930

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1902Post officeThe Weleetka post office opens
  4. 1906In the archiveMap of the Weleetka- Shawnee Survey Showing Located Line
  5. 1923Born hereBill Blackburn is born here
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 2,042
By decade

Weleetka, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Map of the Weleetka- Shawnee Survey Showing Located Line1906Map of the Weleetka- Shawnee Survey Showing Located L…MapMap of the Weleetka- Shawnee Survey Showing Located Line1906Map of the Weleetka- Shawnee Survey Showing Located L…Map
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Weleetka, Oklahoma (2008)2008Weleetka, Oklahoma (2008)
Every building

Weleetka, building by building, 1905–1918

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.

Weleetka fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Weleetka

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
1993
Weleetka Town Hall and Jail
Weleetka Town Hall and Jail
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Weleetka Town Hall and JailRomanesque

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Weleetka

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

See all →
A
Amber HayesAmerican singer-songwriter
Bill BlackburnAmerican football player · b. 1923
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Weleetka’s post office has been open since 1902.

Gone or out of use
Weleetka Oil Fieldoilfield

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Weleetka’s history

What year was Weleetka founded?

The Weleetka post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Weleetka?

One place: the Weleetka Town Hall and Jail (listed 1993).

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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), 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.