[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), all land.

The incorporated community of Ryan is located in southwestern Jefferson County.

[4] As a result of his marriage to a Chickasaw woman, Ryan acquired vast acreage in present Jefferson County, then a part of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.

When the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway constructed a station on Ryan's land in 1892, he platted the site for the town that now bears his name.

A post office had been established in that locality in June 1890, and Ryan's home, built circa 1877, was the community's first residence.

[4] Ryan was named the seat of Jefferson County by delegates to the 1906 Constitutional Convention.

Local ranchers raised cattle and hogs, and farmers produced cotton, corn, and wheat.

The fruit industry was a prosperous enterprise, as pears, peaches, apples, plums, and strawberries were grown in abundance.

By 1930 the townspeople enjoyed one-mile (1.6 km) of paved roads, two schools, three hundred telephone connections, and a bus line.