Editing Moore, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The Moore post office was established May 27, 1889, during the [[Land Run of 1889]] and was named for Al Moore, an [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] employee. According to the town history he was a "[[conductor (transportation)|conductor]] or a [[brakeman]], lived in a [[boxcar]] at the camp and had difficulty receiving his mail. He painted his name – "Moore" – on a board and nailed it on the boxcar. When a postmaster was appointed, he continued to call the settlement Moore. When the town incorporated in 1893 the name was legalized."<ref name="A Brief History of Moore">{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofmoore.com/history |title=A Brief History of Moore |publisher=City of Moore |access-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607154100/http://www.cityofmoore.com/history |archive-date=June 7, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="google1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpAmsIFdutAC&pg=PA163 |title=Oklahoma Place Names - Georg Shirk - Google Books |date=January 7, 1972 |access-date=May 23, 2013 |isbn=9780806120287 |last1=Shirk |first1=George H. |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref>

The city's history notes that the community before the post office may have been called "Verbeck" by the railroad.<ref name="A Brief History of Moore"/> However, other histories indicate that Verbeck was actually the original name of the nearby telegraph station "Oklahoma" which became the basis for the founding of Oklahoma City.<ref>Kelley, E. H. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v027/v027p347.pdf WHEN OKLAHOMA CITY WAS SEYMOUR AND VERBECK] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224248/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v027/v027p347.pdf |date=April 10, 2013 }}," ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. (accessed October 2, 2013)</ref>

The community remained small until 1961, when it annexed {{convert|21.6|sqmi}}, becoming a full-fledged city in 1962, which in turn increased its population from 1,221 in 1960 to 18,761 in 1970 and 55,081 in 2010.<ref name="A Brief History of Moore"/> Moore's 1961 annexation kept it an independent city at a time when Oklahoma City through annexations increased its size from {{convert|25|sqmi}} to {{convert|643|sqmi}} surrounding Moore on three sides (north, east, west). [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]] forms its southern border.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.okchistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138:explosive-growth&catid=40:events&Itemid=77 |title=Explosive Growth }}</ref>

In 1966 the [[Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College]], after moving through various locations around Oklahoma, opened in the community.

The Moore post office turned into a branch of the Oklahoma City post office on January 7, 1972.<ref name="google1"/>

In the 1970s the city launched a "Smile America" campaign in which giant red, white and blue [[smiley]]s were painted on the town water towers. A smiley also adorns the city's official logo (as does a water tower).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.triptrivia.com/step4.php?Submit=Submit&State=37&StartCity=14886 |title=triptrivia.com |website=www.triptrivia.com |access-date=April 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141318/http://www.triptrivia.com/step4.php?Submit=Submit&State=37&StartCity=14886 |archive-date=April 8, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some of the water towers now have a sign that says, "Moore - Home of [[Toby Keith]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/our-country/toby-keith-expresses-sorrow-over-hometown-tornado-devastation-162412199.html |title=Toby Keith Expresses Sorrow Over Hometown Tornado Devastation |website=yahoo.com |date=May 21, 2013 |access-date=April 7, 2018 |archive-date=February 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225220931/http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/our-country/toby-keith-expresses-sorrow-over-hometown-tornado-devastation-162412199.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelostogle.com/2010/03/25/page-3-why-your-city-sucks-moore/ |title=Page 3: Why Your City Sucks: Moore |date=March 25, 2010 |website=thelostogle.com |access-date=April 7, 2018 |archive-date=May 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507081632/http://www.thelostogle.com/2010/03/25/page-3-why-your-city-sucks-moore/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On September 24, 2014, at the local Vaughan Foods food processing plant, [[Vaughan Foods beheading incident|one employee was beheaded with a knife and another coworker had her throat slit and was injured, but survived]]. The alleged attacker, 30-year-old Alton Nolen, who was on suspension from the plant prior to the attack due to interactions with the employee who survived the attack, was shot and wounded by company owner Mark Vaughan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/26/alton-nolan-beheads-cowor_n_5888500.html |work=Huffington Post |title=Oklahoma Woman Beheaded By Fired Coworker: Cops |date=September 26, 2014 |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |access-date=September 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624235836/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/26/alton-nolan-beheads-cowor_n_5888500.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/us/oklahoma-beheading/index.html |work=CNN |title=Quick Links |archive-date=September 27, 2014 |access-date=September 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927140647/http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/us/oklahoma-beheading/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nolen was convicted of murder and assault in October 2017. A jury recommended that he receive the death penalty,<ref name="KOCO: Jury recommends death penalty">{{cite web |url=http://www.koco.com/article/jury-recommends-death-penalty-for-alton-nolen-murder-conviction/12837914 |title=Jury recommends death penalty for Alton Nolen murder conviction |date=October 12, 2017 |publisher=[[KOCO-TV|KOCO 5 News]] |access-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-date=October 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020084101/http://www.koco.com/article/jury-recommends-death-penalty-for-alton-nolen-murder-conviction/12837914 |url-status=live }}</ref> and, on December 15, 2017, a judge sentenced Nolen to death by [[lethal injection]].<ref name="Fox News: Oklahoma man sentenced">{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/oklahoma-man-sentenced-to-death-for-beheading-his-co-worker/ |title=Oklahoma man sentenced to death for beheading his co-worker |date=December 15, 2017 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=November 10, 2024 |archive-date=December 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216143422/https://www.foxnews.com/us/oklahoma-man-sentenced-to-death-for-beheading-his-co-worker/ |url-status=live }}</ref>