Barnsdall’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Barnsdall. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The community was founded in 1905 and originally named Bigheart, for the Osage Chief James Bigheart. It was initially a 160-acre site along the Midland Valley Railroad in March 1905. The railroad opened Bigheart Station in September 1905 and the Bigheart Post Office opened in January 1906. The community was exempted from the Osage allotment, so lots could be sold to anyone. Lots were auctioned in May 1906. The first newspaper, the Bigheart Star, first appeared in 1906.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Barnsdall’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnsdall’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewScene on Main Street in Bigheart,…, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Barnsdall, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Scene on Main Street in Bigheart, Oklahoma (1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (2) and the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.