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History · Wynona

Wynona’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Wynona was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1920.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wynona began

When was Wynona founded?

1903

The Wynona post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,749 in 19202020 census: 370123 years
Founding year: the first Wynona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wynona’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 Wynona are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1985. Watch Wynona change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wynona’s collection

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

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

Wynona on the map, 1909 to 1985

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

Wynona on the 1909 USGS mapWynona on the 1910 USGS mapWynona on the 1964 USGS mapWynona on the 1985 USGS map1909Pawhuska 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 Wynona.

The story

How Wynona came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wynona.

Read it all →

An Osage-Cherokee rancher, Antoine Rogers, settled in the area that would become the town of Wynona in 1871, after the Osage tribe had been removed from Kansas to Indian Territory by the U. S. Government. In 1903, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (also known as the MK&T or Katy railroad) built a line across Rogers's land. A store was built adjacent to the track, and that event is considered the establishment of Wynona, which soon became a cattle shipping point.

The Osage Townsite Company began development of the town in 1909. By the end of the year, the population grew from 20 to more than 150 residents. The first local newspaper, a weekly named the Wynona Enterprise, appeared in August 1909.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wynona, 1903 to 1923

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Wynona post office opens
  3. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1923Born hereHal Moore is born here
By decade

Wynona, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Cattle rumble beneath a tall and handsome windmill near Wynona, in Osage County, Oklahoma2020Cattle rumble beneath a tall and handsome windmill ne…
Every building

Wynona, building by building, 1919

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 sheet.

Wynona fire insurance map, 1919, sheet 11919Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

People over time

Wynona, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,749

Between 370 and 2,749 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Wynona’s history

What year was Wynona founded?

The Wynona post office opened in 1903, 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 →
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 the Library of Congress (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.