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History · Groom

Groom’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Groom was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Photo: Highlightwiki · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Groom began

When was Groom founded?

1903

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

2020 census: 552123 years
Founding year: the first Groom post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Groom’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 Groom are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Groom’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Groom’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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The story

How Groom came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Groom.

Read it all →

The route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, along the Canadian River was charted c. 1849 by Captain Randolph Barnes Marcy. Published in 1859, Marcy's book, The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions, contained maps and illustrations of routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific and was used as a basic manual by westward-bound wagon trains and travelers for years.

ChaptersEarly explorationColonel B. B. GroomHarrison GroomThe town

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Groom, 1903 to 1976

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Groom post office opens
  3. 1958Born hereSteve Haskins is born here
  4. 1976Born hereLeland Chapman is born here
By decade

Groom, decade by decade

Today6 recent
A grain elevator and related buildings2014A grain elevator and related buildingsA massive cloud presages a thunderstorm above Groom, a tiny community along old U.S. Route 66 in the Texas panhandle2014A massive cloud presages a thunderstorm above Groom, …The "Leaning Tower of Groom," a tilted water tower that used to supply a now-extinct truck stop off old U.S. Route 66 i…2014The "Leaning Tower of Groom," a tilted water tower th…A perfectly flat wheatfield, worthy of western Kansas. But it's hundreds of miles away, near the tiny town of Groom in …2014A perfectly flat wheatfield, worthy of western Kansas…A massive cloud presages a thunderstorm above Groom, a tiny community along old U.S. Route 66 in the Texas panhandle2014A massive cloud presages a thunderstorm above Groom, …A grain elevator and related buildings in Groom, a tiny community along old U.S. Route 66 in the Texas panhandle2014A grain elevator and related buildings in Groom, a ti…
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Groom

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

See all →
L
Leland ChapmanAmerican bail bondsman and bounty hunter · b. 1976
S
Steve HaskinsProfessional golfer · b. 1958

Questions about Groom’s history

What year was Groom founded?

The Groom 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 →
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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 Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.