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History · Lone Oak

Lone Oak’s post office opened in 1869

Most of Lone Oak was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: the census since 1880.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Lone Oak began

When was Lone Oak founded?

1869

The Lone Oak post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 79 in 18802020 census: 643157 years
Founding year: the first Lone Oak post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lone Oak’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 Lone Oak are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,017 in 1920; 643 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lone Oak’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lone Oak’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
People over time

Lone Oak, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,017

Peaked at 1,017 in 1920; 643 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Lone Oak came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lone Oak.

Read it all →

Settlers first came to the area in the 1850s. The city was named after a lone oak tree in the prairie. A post office was established in 1869. Tracks of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad were built through the area in 1890, and Lone Oak was incorporated that same year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lone Oak, 1869 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Lone Oak post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913Born hereCal Dorsett is born here
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,017
By decade

Lone Oak, decade by decade

Today4 recent
LoneOakTexas2015LoneOakTexasLone Oak September 2015 2 (Katy Street)2015Lone Oak September 2015 2 (Katy Street)Lone Oak September 2015 1 (Farm to Market Road 513)2015Lone Oak September 2015 1 (Farm to Market Road 513)TXMap-doton-LoneOak2004TXMap-doton-LoneOak

Questions about Lone Oak’s history

What year was Lone Oak founded?

The Lone Oak post office opened in 1869, 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 (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.