Editing Agra, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Agra began to form around the turn of 20th century. A post office opened in Agra on December 20, 1902, with Isaac C. Pierce serving as the first postmaster.  The Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (which later became part of the [[Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway]] (also known as MKT or "Katy") built a line from [[Oklahoma City]] to [[Parsons, Kansas]] between 1902 and 1904.{{efn|The official founding date is 1904.}} The townsite was developed after two local farmers, Frank Wheeler and Sam Holder, sold their lands along the railroad.  American Land Loan and Trust Company divided the site into town lots.<ref name="EOHC-Agra">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AG001 Wilson, Linda D. "Agra." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed August 18, 2018.</ref>

The first businesses in town were a drugstore, opened by John Olmstead and a general store opened by Mark Crane. Otherwise, the first buildings were houses and a few churches. The Bank of Agra was built in 1904.{{The Bank of Agra was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NR 90000122). Attempts to save the bank building, failed due to its deterioration, and it was razed in August 1999.<ref name="EOHC-Agra"/>}}  School was taught in churches until 1905, when the first school building was constructed. By 1918, the town had also added the Commercial Hotel and a cotton gin. Early newspapers published in Agra were the ''Agra News'' and the ''Queen City Times''.{{efn|Very early, Agra residents called the town "Queen City", hence the name of the newspaper.}} However, both the nickname and the newspaper passed into oblivion many years ago.

In the 21st century, most of the permanent residents have been employed by the oil and gas industry, and/or commuted to work in other towns.<ref name="EOHC-Agra"/> Agra is essentially a bedroom community. It is now a small country town, but has 3 churches, a restaurant, elementary and high school, post office, and convenience store.