The 1880s frontier settlement that became the first incorporated town in Oklahoma Territory was Guthrie.
Guthrie was established during the Land Run of April 22, 1889, when thousands of settlers entered lands that had previously been reserved for Native American nations. The settlement grew almost immediately around a Santa Fe Railway station and became a major center of commerce and government.
Guthrie was incorporated on April 23, 1889, one day after the opening. It was selected as the first capital of Oklahoma Territory and later served as Oklahoma’s state capital after statehood in 1907. The capital moved to Oklahoma City in 1910 after a statewide vote.
Guthrie’s early growth produced a dense collection of late-nineteenth-century buildings, many of which survive in the Guthrie Historic District. The town is therefore associated both with the dramatic opening of Oklahoma lands and with the territory’s first governmental institutions. Oklahoma City also began during the 1889 Land Run, but it was not the first incorporated town.