Editing Allen, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
[[File:Allen, Oklahoma school 1896.jpg|thumb|Old photograph of Black Rock School, in Allen, 1896]]
The town was founded in 1883<ref>''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture- Allen'', retrieved on February 9, 2010</ref> by a group of white settlers who had arrived in [[Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma|Choctaw Nation]], [[Indian Territory]] in 1882 from [[Gainesville, Texas|Gainesville]], [[Texas]], led by [[Confederate Army]] veteran Doctor John Trigg Gilmore, his wife, Elizabeth Louise Oliveaux, their children, and relatives William and George McCall, with their respective families. They first settled in Cold Springs, northwest of the present town site, where other settlers soon joined them. The first log cabin was built in Allen in 1883, and this building was used as both a school and church. The town was named after the son of deputy [[United States marshal]] William McCall.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture- Allen''</ref>

Allen, Oklahoma is the modern-day site of the [[Battle of Middle Boggy Depot|Battle of Middle Boggy]] during the [[American Civil War]].

In 1892, Dr. Gilmore became Allen's first postmaster and founded the town's first [[Freemasonry|Masonic Lodge]] two years later.

The Missouri, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railway built a line through the area in 1909, although it bypassed Allen, by a half-mile.

Allen became a [[boomtown]] in 1913, when an oil well was drilled west of the town.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsh |first1=Louise |last2=Townes |first2=Willa Mae |last3=Morris |first3=John W. |title=A History of The Greater Seminole Oil Field |date=1981 |publisher=Oklahoma Heritage Association |isbn=0865460310 |pages=14–15}}</ref> The population rose from 645 in 1910 to 1,389 in 1930, but dropped to 907 in 1970.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Its principal industries besides [[petroleum]] are ranching and agriculture.

The [[Ku Klux Klan]] held weekly meetings in Allen as late as 1923 according to the ''Allen Democrat'', a former local newspaper.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 28, 1923 |title=Knights of the K. K. K. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-allen-democrat/82170325/ |access-date=2024-08-24 |location=Allen, Oklahoma |newspaper=The Allen Democrat |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=August 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240824095956/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-allen-democrat/82170325/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''Allen Advocate'' is a weekly newspaper published on Thursday in Allen.<ref name="fbinder">Finder Binder: Oklahoma's Updated Media Directory, 2010 Winter Issue.</ref> The newspaper is published by the Robinson Publishing Company, founded in 1982, by Bill and Dayna Robinson.<ref name="rpc">[http://www.robinsonpublishingco.com/ "The Robinson Publishing Company: About Us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715192649/http://www.robinsonpublishingco.com/ |date=July 15, 2011 }} (accessed March 15, 2010)</ref> The company also publishes the ''Coalgate Record Register'' and the ''Holdenville Tribune''.<ref name="rpc"/>