Editing Moffett, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], several Cherokee and Cherokee freedmen settled around the present community of Moffett. A post office was established in 1908 and was named for Martha Moffett Payne, wife of Dr. Samuel Payne. The town became an agricultural center, especially for cotton farmers.<ref name="EOHC-Moffett">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MO003 Larry O'Dell,  "Moffett.",  ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. ] Accessed July 20, 2012.</ref>

Moffett incorporated in 1928. Its population was 340 at the 1930 census, and peaked at 538 in 1940. Before and during [[World War II]], the town's bars and gambling establishments attracted soldiers from nearby [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]] and [[Camp Chaffee]]. The U.S. Army declared Moffett "off limits" during the war, and kept the ban in place until the mid-1970s. The town began a long decline after World War II. The 1960 census counted 357 residents, and the decline has continued to the present.<ref name="EOHC-Moffett"/>

Moffett's history has included several damaging floods. The most notable of these occurred in 1943, 1957, 1986, 1990, and 2019.<ref name="EOHC-Moffett"/>

{{anchor|bankruptcy}}In 2007, the town filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy after Oklahoma's attorney general declared it was operating a speed trap, and barred local police from issuing speeding citations. Without the steady stream of citation revenue generated from motorists passing through on [[U.S. Route 64 in Oklahoma|U.S. Highway 64]], the town was unable to manage the $200,000 in debts incurred by the former mayor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1584.asp|title = Oklahoma: Speed Trap Town Goes Bankrupt}}</ref>