Editing Avant, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Ben Avant, a native of [[Gonzales, Texas]], married Rosalie Rogers, a Cherokee-Osage, and established a ranch in 1896. The Avant oil field was discovered in 1904. The Midland Valley Railroad (later acquired by the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]]) reached the Avant ranch in 1905. A post office named Avant was established in 1906, but the town did not really begin to develop until 1909. Avant's population peaked at 1,071 in 1920, but declined steadily thereafter. Ben Avant was shot and killed by the town marshal in 1923.<ref name="EOHC-Avant" />

The post office in Avant was slated for possible closure by the US Postal service in 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/states/oklahoma.htm |title=Expanded Access Study List - Oklahoma |accessdate=February 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125204256/http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/states/oklahoma.htm |archivedate=January 25, 2012 }}</ref> but the postal service website still shows the Avant post office is open as of July 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://tools.usps.com/find-location.htm |title=Find Locations (using search term Avant, Oklahoma)|publisher=USPS|accessdate=July 19, 2020}}</ref>