Editing Deer Creek, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The community began on March 14, 1898, when W. A. Bradford, president of the [[Gulf Railroad]], bought {{convert|160| acres|km2}} of land to establish a town along the route his railroad planned to use for a rail line between [[Medford, Oklahoma|Medford]] and [[Blackwell, Oklahoma]]. The line was constructed between 1897-1898. On February 27, 1899, the post office at the nearby community of Orie was moved to Deer Creek.<ref name="EOHC-DeerCreek"/>{{efn|Gulf Railroad was later acquired by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] (Santa Fe Railroad).<ref name="EOHC-DeerCreek"/>}}

The Deer Creek Mennonites organized on August 27, 1899, and opened a church in 1902. Soon, other denominations began meeting in the home of Elijah Franklin Webster, with a Methodist minister leading the service. The Christian and Methodist church buildings were constructed by 1909.<ref name="EOHC-DeerCreek"/>

The first producing oil and gas wells in the area were drilled in the early 1920s, causing a brief boom. Deer Creek's population peaked at 312 in 1930. A prolonged population decline reached 124 in 1990. Except for one co-operative, most businesses had closed by 1998. There has been a small population increase in the 21st century.