History · Sumner

Sumner’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Sumner. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

2old photos & papers

1historic places

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Sumner’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Sumner’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sumner’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Sumner, in brief

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

Sumner is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Noble County, Oklahoma, United States, ten miles east of Perry and two miles north of U.S. Route 64. Established prior to statehood along the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, the post office opened on May 23, 1894. The town was named for Henry T. Sumner, a businessman from Perry. Per the 1905 Oklahoma Territorial Census, Sumner had sixty-four residents. The post office closed July 27, 1957. As of the 2020 census, Sumner had a population of 35. At its peak the town had a bank, post office, two churches, a school, a grain elevator, and a train stop. Currently, the only significant buildings still in use are the Bapti…

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

Timeline

Sumner, 1850 to 1952

Woven from the archive, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Oklahoma - Noble County - ED 52-25, ED 52…
1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Noble County - ED 52-1 - ED 52-30
20th century
1952Born hereDon Calhoun is born here

By decade

Sumner, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s2 items

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Oklahoma - Noble County - ED 52-25, ED 52-26, ED 52-27, ED 52-28, ED 52…

18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Oklah…

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - Noble County - ED 52-1 - ED 52-30

18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Oklahoma - No…

1890s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

Today1 recent

2014Sumner OK

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Oklahoma - Noble County - ED 52-25, ED 52-26, ED 52-27, ED 52-28, ED 52…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sumner’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Sumner

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1996

Sumner School

in Oklahoma

#136

by listings

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1

Sumner SchoolCommercial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →

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Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

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From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1) and Wikidata for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.