Editing Chandler, Oklahoma (section)

== History ==
Chandler was named after Judge George Chandler, also Assistant Secretary of the Interior. The site of Chandler was opened by a land run on September 28, 1891.<ref name="EOHC-Chandler">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CH002 Sally Bourne Ferrell and Donald F. Ferrell, "Chandler'" ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed March 28, 2015.</ref>  The town had been planned to be opened on September 22, (the date of the ''[[Land run|Land Run of 1891]]'') but the site survey had not been completed. The Chandler [[Post Office]] had opened September 21, the day before the planned run. When [[Oklahoma Territory]] County A (Lincoln County) was organized, Chandler became the county seat.  On March 30, 1897, a [[tornado]] destroyed most of the fledgling town and killed 14 residents.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Grazulis |first1=Thomas P. |title=Significant tornadoes, 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events |date=1993 |publisher=Environmental Films |location=St. Johnsbury, Vermont |isbn=1-879362-03-1 |pages=680}}</ref>

In 1891 the county government operated from an office building until a courthouse was built. The courthouse was destroyed by the tornado of 1897, and a two-story frame building was erected as a temporary courthouse on the present site. The building was removed in 1907 to make way for a stone courthouse. This third courthouse burned down on December 23, 1967 and the current courthouse was constructed in its place.<ref name="A Brief History of Lincoln County">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oklincol/briefhistory.html|title=A Brief History of Lincoln County|access-date=2008-07-04}}</ref>

On July 31, 1894, [[Cherokee Bill]] and the gang he was riding with stole $500 from the Lincoln County Bank in Chandler, Oklahoma.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

The St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railroad (later the [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]], also known as the "Frisco") built a line through Chandler in 1898. Another railroad, the [[Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad#Choctaw, Oklahoma and Western Railroad|Choctaw, Oklahoma and Western Railroad]] (later a part of the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]]), built between Chandler and [[Guthrie, Oklahoma|Guthrie]] in the 1902-1903 timeframe.<ref name=Railroads6>{{cite web|url= https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70289 |title=Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, pp. 40-44|publisher= Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978 (accessed on Oklahoma DigitalPrairie)|accessdate=November 1, 2021}}</ref>  The railroads enabled Chandler to move its agricultural products, as well as bricks made by the Chandler Brick Company, to markets.<ref name="EOHC-Chandler"/>

Chandler is one of the many cities along the famous [[U.S. Route 66]] and contains a number of attractions to devotees of "The Mother Road." These include The Route 66 Interpretive Center, The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame, The Lincoln County Museum of Pioneer History, several Route 66-themed murals, the newly restored old cottage-style Phillips 66 gas station, and one of the last remaining painted barns advertising [[Meramec Caverns]], which is on Route 66 in Missouri.

[[U.S. Route 66]] brought a significant amount of [[Commerce|commercial]] business to Chandler, due to travelers crossing the state and the country; much of this business died out when the [[Turner Turnpike]] ([[Interstate 44]]) was built.

In 1949, the Oklahoma legislature declared Chandler to be "The pecan capital of the world," in Resolution No. 5.<ref name="EOHC-Chandler"/>

In 1958, professional baseball player Bo Belcher opened Chandler Baseball Camp.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH002.html |title=Chandler |access-date=2009-09-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605111148/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH002.html |archive-date=2010-06-05 }}</ref> For 42 years, the camp hosted campers from around the world for a bootcamp-like baseball camp during summers. The camp closed in 2000 due to the death of Tom Belcher (not to be confused with fellow baseball player [[Tim Belcher]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsok.com/article/2944186|title=Tom Belcher|work=NewsOK.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.checkswing.com/forum/topics/chandler-baseball-camp-alumni|title=Chandler Baseball Camp Alumni Search, Chandler OK|work=checkswing.com}}</ref> In 2011 it was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Oklahoma|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>http://69.175.53.6/register/2011/May/18/2011-12128.pdf{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[http://newsok.com/oklahoma-baseball-camp-added-to-national-register/article/3616551?custom_click=headlines_widget "Oklahoma baseball camp added to National Register. The Chandler Baseball Camp is being added to the National Register of Historic Places."], ''[[The Oklahoman]]'', October 24, 2011.</ref>