Editing Kingfisher, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Chisholm Statue in Downtown Kingfisher 2014.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of [[Jesse Chisholm]] in downtown Kingfisher]] -->

===19th century===
Kingfisher came into existence on April 22, 1889, when land owned by the federal government was opened to settlement by "[[land run]]". A huge area in what is now central Oklahoma was literally "peopled" by non-Native Americans overnight. The city is situated on a part of the [[Chisholm Trail]], over which millions of [[Texas Longhorn|Texas longhorns]] were driven to railheads in Kansas in the years immediately following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Extension of the railroads and settlement of the open range ended this colorful era.

The town was named for an early resident who several landmarks were named for, a man named King Fisher.<ref name="johnalley">Alley, John. City Beginnings in Oklahoma Territory. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1939.</ref>

The bill that opened Oklahoma Territory to non-Indian settlement limited the sizes of townsites to {{convert|320|acre|ha}}. Settlers in the Kingfisher area formed two communities: Kingfisher City, on the north side of the settlement, and Lisbon, on the south side. The two merged on June 14, 1890, and the resulting town was named Kingfisher. Oklahoma Territory was organized May 2, 1890, and consisted of the Unassigned Lands and the Panhandle. The Western District included present-day Kingfisher County, part of [[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian County]] and the [[Oklahoma Panhandle|Panhandle]]. [[Abraham Jefferson Seay]], a [[Missouri]] native, was appointed as District Judge and moved to Kingfisher. In 1892, Seay was appointed as the second territorial governor by President [[Benjamin Harrison]].<ref name="EOHC-Kingfisher"/>

Railroads helped with Kingfisher’s growth: the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] (later part of the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]]) built through the area, the first passenger train arriving on October 23, 1889.<ref name="OHS1">{{Cite web |title=Kingfisher |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=KI010 |access-date=February 18, 2023 |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society}}</ref>

A newspaper was published in Kingfisher from 1889 to 1963 under the names ''Kingfisher Free Press'', ''The New World'', ''Kingfisher Weekly Free Press'', and ''Kingfisher Weekly Star and Free Press''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kingfisher Free Press Archive |url=https://www.newspapers.com/paper/kingfisher-free-press/20570/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===20th century===
The [[Coleman Company]] was founded in Kingfisher by [[W. C. Coleman]] in 1900.

In 1900, the [[Guthrie and Kingfisher Railway]]—also later part of the Rock Island—built east from Kingfisher, while the [[Guthrie and Western Railway]]—an affiliate of the [[Santa Fe Railroad]]—built west from [[Seward, Oklahoma]], meeting at a point that became [[Cashion, Oklahoma]], and giving Kingfisher access to the territorial capitol of Guthrie and the Santa Fe system.<ref name=OHS1/><ref name="Railroads1">{{Cite web |title=The Guthrie and Kingfisher Railway Company |url=https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70290 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |publisher=Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870 to April 1, 1978 (accessed on Oklahoma Digital Prairie), p.40-43}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cashion |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CA069 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society}}</ref>  The Kingfisher to Seward line was abandoned in pieces in 1934 and 1937, but Kingfisher still has freight rail service on what is now the [[Union Pacific Railroad]].<ref name=Railroads1/><ref name="Railroads2">{{Cite web |title=The Guthrie and Western Railway Company |url=https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70280 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |publisher=Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870 to April 1, 1978 (accessed on Oklahoma Digital Prairie), p.29-39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oklahoma 2018-2020 State Railroad Map |url=https://www.odot.org/maps/railroad/2016-2017/RRmap1_2016-17_web.pdf |access-date=February 18, 2023 |publisher=Oklahoma Department of Transportation}}</ref>

The Kingfisher County Development Foundation was created in 1958 for the purpose of assisting and promoting industrial, economic and civic growth within, and surrounding the Kingfisher area of Oklahoma.A present K.C.D.F. strategy includes the investment for development of the Kingfisher Industrial Park. The industrial park is located just south of Kingfisher, further closing the gap between [[Oklahoma City]] and Kingfisher. Kingfisher has quickly become a suburban community of the [[Oklahoma City metropolitan area|Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area]], already home to many commuters to Oklahoma City. Kingfisher is a Certified City and has received a Community Development Block Grant to inventory infrastructure features for Capital Improvement Planning (CIP).{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}}

===21st century===
On August 19, 2007, the city was 25% flooded when Kingfisher Creek and Uncle John Creek overflowed their banks, the result of heavy rain from [[Tropical Storm Erin (2007)|Tropical Depression Erin]]. One woman died in the flood.<ref>KWTV August 19, 2007</ref>