Editing Carter County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Prior to statehood, the present Carter County, Oklahoma, was part of [[Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation|Pickens County]] in the [[Chickasaw Nation]] of the [[Indian Territory]].<ref>Charles Goins, ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), plate 105.</ref>

After the Civil War, the government of the United States forced the Chickasaw government to allow railroads built across its territory. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (controlled by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]], AT&SF) built a line north from Texas to [[Purcell, Oklahoma|Purcell]].

In 1901-1903 the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway (acquired by the [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]] in 1907) built a line from Arkansas to Ardmore. Oil production spurred further railroad development. In 1913–14, the Oklahoma, New Mexico and Pacific Railway constructed a line from Ardmore west to Ringling. In 1916, the Ringling and Oil Fields Railway laid tracks north from Ringling Junction to Healdton. These last two rail lines were abandoned in 1976.<ref name="EOHC-CarterCo"/>

Oil and gas production began very early in the 20th century. The Healdton field opened in 1913, and led to the development of Ardmore as a major oil production center. However, a disastrous fire occurred in Ardmore in 1915, when a railroad car exploded, killing 43 people and destroying much of the downtown. Ardmore and the local oil industry recovered, and the city also became a manufacturing center. Akron Tire and Rubber Company built and operated a plant in Ardmore as early as 1915. In 1970, Uniroyal built a tire plant there. It was acquired by Michelin North America in 1990. By the start of the 21st century, manufacturing was the largest component of the county economy.<ref name="EOHC-CarterCo"/>