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History · Welling

Welling’s post office opened in 1899

Most of Welling was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 2000.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Welling began

When was Welling founded?

1899

The Welling post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 669 in 20002020 census: 781127 years
Founding year: the first Welling post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Welling’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 Welling are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1972. Watch Welling change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Welling’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Welling on the map, 1898 to 1972

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

Welling on the 1898 USGS mapWelling on the 1901 USGS mapWelling on the 1972 USGS map1898Tahlequah 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 Welling.

The story so far

Welling, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Welling yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Welling is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, Welling had a population of 781. It is home to The Salvation Army's Heart o' Hills camp and conference center.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 771 in 2010, 781 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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.
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People over time

Welling, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 781

Between 669 and 781 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Welling

Nobody well known was born in Welling itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wilma MankillerPrinciple Chief of the Cherokee Nation · b. 1945
Mary Golda RossAmerican aerospace engineer, first Native Ameri… · b. 1908
Adrian HouserAmerican baseball player · b. 1993
Tyler BunchAmerican actor · b. 1970
Alice Brown DavisSeminole chief, interpreter, rancher, and trader · b. 1852
Ned ChristieCherokee leader · b. 1852
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BriggsIts storyD−CaneyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEttaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEldonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPark Hill4 historic placesB−

Questions about Welling’s history

What year was Welling founded?

The Welling post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.