Newkirk, the county seat of Kay County, was platted in 1893 and white settlers arrived in September of that year when the Cherokee Outlet was opened. By 1901 the downtown area had twenty imposing stone structures, most of them built of native limestone quarried east of the community.
The Newkirk Central Business District is a three-block area that includes the majority of the historic commercial development in the area. The district is comprised of one- and two-story structures, dating from 1894 to 1920. Most buildings are in the Romanesque Revival, Commercial, and Colonial Revival styles. It has been an Oklahoma Main Street Community since 1992 and was the first small town to receive the Oklahoma Main Street Award.
While many of the buildings remain structurally sound, the Mason Stanley Building is on the verge of collapse. The front façade is buckling between the first and second floors (a turnbuckle has not been maintained). Maintaining the integrity of the district is of the utmost importance.
In 1984 the Newkirk Central Business District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.