Editing Goltry, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Originally part of the [[Cherokee Outlet]], the area of present-day Goltry was not open to non-Indian settlement until September 1893. After the opening, a settlement called Karoma emerged on the John Streich farm, approximately one and one-half miles southeast of present Goltry. The Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (later part of the [[St. Louis–San Francisco Railway|St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]], or Frisco, system) constructed a line in 1904 from east to west apart the former [[Woods County, Oklahoma|Woods County]] that became present-day [[Alfalfa County, Oklahoma|Alfalfa County]], after the creation of the latter 1907. The people of Karoma moved most of their homes and businesses closer to the railroad. In 1904, John Linden’s townsite company surveyed and platted the town on 240 acres. The new community was incorporated and named for [[Enid, Oklahoma|Enid]] resident Charles Goltry, who owned the land and whose milling company constructed a grain elevator there.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Goltry {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=GO008 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society {{!}} OHS |language=en-us}}</ref> Many of the early settlers were [[Germans from Russia]], in addition to a number from the then German state of [[Bohemia]] and from [[Switzerland]].<ref name="EOHC-Goltry" /> At one time, Goltry was home to two German [[Mennonite]] churches.  The remaining Mennonite church, the ''Pleasant View [[Church of God in Christ, Mennonite|Church of God in Christ Mennonite]]'', was organized in 1905, by settlers who began to arrive in 1900.<ref name="GAMEO-Goltry">{{cite web|author1=Koehn, Reuben J|title=Pleasant View Church of God in Christ Mennonite Church (Goltry, Oklahoma, USA)|url=http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Pleasant_View_Church_of_God_in_Christ_Mennonite_Church_(Goltry,_Oklahoma,_USA)|website=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online|publisher=GAMEO|accessdate=August 29, 2016|date=1959}}</ref><ref name="GAMEO-Alfalfa">{{cite web|author1=Bergen, J. W.|title=Alfalfa County (Oklahoma, USA)|url=http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Alfalfa_County_(Oklahoma,_USA)|website=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online|publisher=GAMEO|accessdate=August 29, 2016|date=1955}}</ref>  As late as 2000, one-third of the town's residents claimed German ancestry.<ref name="EOHC-Goltry" /> Goltry is also the birthplace of [[Wally Parks]] (1913-2007), the founder of the [[National Hot Rod Association]].<ref>NHRA.com</ref>