Editing Cherokee, Oklahoma (section)

===Years of prosperity===
The Masonic hospital was relocated from nearby [[Aline, Oklahoma|Aline]] in 1918. A new high school building was completed in 1921. There were a variety of industries to provide employment, including: Cherokee Mills Company which produced flour, the McDowell Standard Battery Company's factory, an ice plant, and a planing mill. With a successful bond election, a new county courthouse was completed in 1924. The 1920s also saw a variety of other public projects, including street improvements and public water supply. In addition, oil-field activity within the county during the late 1920s and the mid-1930s contributed to the city's prosperity, with a half-dozen oil companies maintaining storage facilities near the railroad yards. At the onset of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], Cherokee had become "an important urban and trading center."<ref name=EOHC-Cherokee/>

Cherokee was better situated than most communities to weather the downturn of the depression. With its many hotels, including: The Hotel Cherokee, Hotel Henderson, the Ideal Hotel, Jobe's Hotel, and the Orient Hotel, the city's business owners worked hard to promote the town as a convention destination. They were successful in attracting a variety of organizations including the Oklahoma State Holiness Association, the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]], and the 4-H Clubs in 1933, the Baptist Association and the Tri-County Masonic Association in 1935, and the Oklahoma Press Association Regional Meeting and the Northwestern Oklahoma Baptist Association Annual Dinner in 1936.<ref name=EOHC-Cherokee/>

By 1936, the city boasted eleven gasoline stations, five automobile dealerships, five garages, plus three lumber yards. There were also four grain elevators in operation, plus an ice cream factory. In addition, Cherokee had nine restaurants, five groceries, two bakeries, two banks, two hardware stores, two department stores, as well as approximately two dozen other retail businesses. Two newspapers, the ''Alfalfa County News'' and the ''Cherokee Messenger'', informed the public.<ref name=EOHC-Cherokee/>

The [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) completed construction of a [[National Guard Armory]] in 1937, along with a public library in 1939. Its proximity to the Great Salt Plains area attracted sporting activities including bird-hunting excursions, which boosted the economy by bringing in hundreds of travelers.<ref name=EOHC-Cherokee/> Construction of a dam on the [[Salt Fork Arkansas River|Salt Fork of the Arkansas River]] begun in 1938 - completed in 1941 - would create the [[Great Salt Plains Lake]], making the area even more desirable as a hunting and tourism spot.<ref name="EOHC-GSPSP-NWR">{{cite web|last1=Hedglen|first1=Thomas L.|title=Great Salt Plains State Park and National Wildlife Refuge|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GR036|website='Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=May 27, 2016|date=2009}}</ref>