Editing Harrah, Oklahoma

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Harrah, Oklahoma
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = "Heart of the Heartland"
|image_skyline            = City Hall, Harrah, Oklahoma.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Harrah City Hall
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               = 
|image_map        = Oklahoma County Oklahoma Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Harrah highlighted.svg
|map_caption       = Location in [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma County]] and the state of [[Oklahoma]].
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Oklahoma]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Oklahoma|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         = 
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 20, 2022}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 32.16
|area_land_km2            = 32.16
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi         = 12.42
|area_land_sq_mi          = 12.42
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 6245
|population_density_km2   = 194.20
|population_density_sq_mi = 502.98
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 1139
|coordinates              = {{coord|35|28|43|N|97|11|14|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 73045
|area_code                = [[Area code 405|405]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 40-32750
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2410705<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2410705}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|https://cityofharrah.com/}}
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
}}

'''Harrah''' is a city in [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States, and a part of the [[Oklahoma City metropolitan area]]. Located {{convert|25|mi|km}} east of downtown Oklahoma City, Harrah had a population of 6,245 people as of the [[2020 United States census|2020 Census]], a 22.6% increase from 2010.

The first settler of the area, who was [[Potawatomi]], arrived in the 1870s, but the town was not incorporated until 1908. The town was settled by Americans, Polish immigrants, and other groups and had a cotton ginning center. The city is overseen by a city council and [[mayor]] and includes a police department and fire station.

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Oklahoma}}
Harrah is a small city in Oklahoma with a total land area of {{convert|11.9|sqmi|km2}}, all land. The city's elevation is {{convert|925|ft|m}} above sea level.<ref name="sperling">[http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Harrah-Oklahoma.aspx# "Harrah, Oklahoma"] at [http://www.bestplaces.net Sperling's Best Places Website] (accessed April 14, 2013)</ref> It lies partly in the [[Great Plains]] near the geographical center of the 48 [[Contiguous United States|contiguous states]] in the [[United States]]. It lies between the larger cities of [[Oklahoma City]] to the west and [[Shawnee, Oklahoma|Shawnee]], to the east, in Oklahoma County.

Harrah is located in the [[Cross Timbers|Crosstimbers]] [[ecoregion]] and the [[Central Oklahoma|Frontier Country]] [[tourism region]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.travelok.com/cities-and-regions|title=Cities & Regions|website=TravelOK}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/ORD/Ecoregions/ok/ok_eco_pg.pdf|title=Ecoregions of Oklahoma|website=EPA}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Climate===
Oklahoma is located in a [[temperate climate|temperate]] region and experiences occasional extremes of temperature and precipitation typical of a [[continental climate]].<ref name="climate">[http://climate.mesonet.org/county_climate/Products/oklahoma_climate_overview.pdf Oklahoma's Climate: an Overview], University of Oklahoma. (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref> Harrah lies in an area known as [[Tornado Alley]] characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing [[severe weather]]. An average of 54 [[tornado]]es strike the state per year.<ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/tornadoes.html Tornado Climatology], NOAA National Climatic Data Center. (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref>

The city frequently experiences temperatures above 100&nbsp;°F (38&nbsp;°C).<ref name="climate"/>

==History==
The land that would become the town of Harrah had its first settler, Louis Navarre, in the 1870s.<ref name="honea">Honea, Ted. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/H/HA030.html Harrah], Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201065646/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/index.html|date=2015-02-01}} (accessed January 13, 2010)</ref> Navarre, was a member of the [[Potawatomi]] people who had signed an 1867 treaty to sell their [[Kansas]] lands in order to purchase lands in [[Native Territory]] with the proceeds. They also became citizens of the United States and thus became known as the Citizen Potawatomi.<ref name="kraft">Kraft, Lisa A. "[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/P/PO024.html Citizen Potawtomi]," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref>

[[File:Cotton Gin - Flickr - USDAgov.jpg|thumb|A cotton gin in the 1940s]] 
In 1890, Navarre and the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the [[Dawes Act]] of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments.<ref name="kraft"/> In the [[Land Run]] of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to non-Indian settlement, with about {{convert|450|sqmi|km2}} of the reservation given away by the government to settlers.

Frank Harrah, for whom the town is named, purchased {{convert|40|acre|m2}} from Louis Navarre's allotment in April 1898 and early settlers included a large number of Polish immigrants.<ref name="honea"/> More than two million Poles entered American ports between 1897 and 1913, and the immigrants formed small communities around [[Choctaw Nation]] coal mines.<ref>O'dell, Larry. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/P/PO004.html Poles], Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref>

Originally named Sweeney, after E.W. Sweeney, who operated a ferry beginning in 1891, the town was renamed Harrah on December 22, 1898, and was incorporated in 1908.<ref name="honea"/> The town was almost renamed Clubb.<ref name="honea"/>

In the 1940s Harrah was a center of [[cotton]] ginning. Its population was 741 in 1950.<ref>''Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer'', p. 760</ref>  By 1990 4,206 people lived in Harrah.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ThematicMapFramesetServlet?_bm=y&-context=tm&-PANEL_ID=tm_result&-tm_name=DEC_1990_STF1_M00092&-ds_name=DEC_1990_STF1_&-tm_config=%7Cb%3D50%7Cl%3Den%7Ct%3D806%7Czf%3D0.0%7Cms%3Dthm_def%7Cdw%3D1.1191768332529404%7Cdh%3D0.6821102375443742%7Cdt%3Dgov.census.aff.domain.map.EnglishMapExtent%7Cif%3Dgif%7Ccx%3D-97.407511%7Ccy%3D35.5514015%7Czl%3D6%7Cpz%3D6%7Cbo%3D%7Cbl%3D%7Cft%3D350%3A349%3A335%3A389%3A388%3A332%3A331%7Cfl%3D403%3A381%3A204%3A380%3A369%3A379%3A368%7Cg%3D05000US40109%7Cds%3DPEP_2006_EST%7Csb%3D86%7Ctud%3Dfalse%7Cdb%3D160%7Cmn%3D40%7Cmx%3D537734%7Ccc%3D1%7Ccm%3D1%7Ccn%3D5%7Ccb%3D%7Cum%3DTotal%20Persons%7Cpr%3D0%7Cth%3DPEP_2006_EST_M00092%7Csf%3DN%7Csg%3D&-CONTEXT=tm&-tree_id=100&-redoLog=false&-errMsg=&-geo_id=05000US40109&-format=&-_lang=en#?399,259 |title=Census.gov map of Oklahoma County from 1990 |access-date=2020-03-29 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1910= 356
|1920= 365
|1930= 693
|1940= 620
|1950= 741
|1960= 934
|1970= 1931
|1980= 2897
|1990= 4206
|2000= 4719
|2010= 5095
|2020= 6245
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2020}}</ref>
}}
As of the 2022 [[census]], there were 6,425 people. As of the 2010 census, The [[population density]] was 503 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 84% [[White (U.S. Census)|white]], 1% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 7.3% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.7% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.7% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 6.3% from two or more races.<ref name="ffinder2">United States Census Bureau 2010 Demographic Profile for Harrah, Oklahoma at [https://www.census.gov U.S. Census website] (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref> [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race made up 4% of the population.<ref name="ffinder2"/>

Of the 1,960 households, 33% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% consisted of [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families.<ref name="ffinder2"/> 22.7% of the households are occupied by a single individual, and 26.1 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name="ffinder2"/> The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.02.<ref name="ffinder2"/>

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 30.3% from 18 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older.<ref name="ffinder2"/> The median age was 38.5 years.<ref name="ffinder2"/> The population is 52.1% female and 47.9% male.<ref name="ffinder2"/>

The median income for a household in the city was $68,661, and the median income for a family was $76,725.<ref name="econstats">[https://www.census.gov U.S. Census website - Harrah, Oklahoma], United States Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref> The [[per capita income]] for the city was $32,778.<ref name="econstats"/> About 6.1% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="econstats"/>

==City government==

The City of Harrah has a [[city council]] made up of elected officials and led by a [[mayor]]. A council-appointed city manager runs the day-to-day administration of the city and oversees city staff.<ref name="harrahdepartments">[http://harrah-ok.gov/?page_id=10 Departments], City of Harrah. [http://harrah-ok.gov] (accessed January 20, 2010)</ref> The city also holds a municipal court twice a month.<ref name="harrahdepartments"/>

As of April 2024, the city council consists of Mayor Danny Trent and council members Bernadette Klimkowski, Tim Rudek, Jeff Brzozowski, and Steve Scalzo.<ref>[http://harrah-ok.gov/?page_id=12 City Council], City of Harrah. [http://harrah-ok.gov/] (accessed April 13, 2013)</ref>

The City of Harrah includes several departments, including a small fire department consisting of several paid firefighters and many volunteer firefighters. The police department includes full-time detectives, patrol officers, part-time officers, and voluntary reserve officers. The city also offers a comprehensive set of public utilities managed by the utility department and a public works department.<ref name="harrahdepartments"/>

==Education==
Most of the city lies in the [[Harrah Public Schools|Harrah school district]], with some western parts of the city in the [[Choctaw-Nicoma Park school district]].<ref name=CensusSDmap2020>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st40_ok/schooldistrict_maps/c40109_oklahoma/DC20SD_C40109.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Oklahoma County, OK|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=2024-01-28}}</ref> Both districts offer primary and secondary school education. Harrah schools spend approximately $3,204 per student and have 16 students per teacher.<ref>[http://www.bestplaces.net/city/oklahoma/harrah Best Places - Harrah] (accessed July 26, 2013)</ref>

No higher education institutions exist in Harrah.  [[Oklahoma Baptist University]] is located approximately 30 miles to the southeast in [[Shawnee, Oklahoma]], and other options lie 30–45 minutes to the west in Oklahoma City and to the southwest in Norman.

==Notable people==
*[[Jason Boland & The Stragglers|Jason Boland]], [[Red Dirt (music)|Red Dirt]] singer and guitar player for Jason Boland and The Stragglers.
*[[Lance Cargill]], political consultant, former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
*[[Matt Grice]], [[UFC]] fighter
*[[Tim Holt]], Western genre actor, buried here in 1973
*[[Dale Robertson]], [[Western (genre)|western]] actor was born in Harrah in 1923
*[[Lloyd Waner]], [[Hall of Fame]] Baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates
*[[Paul Waner]], [[Hall of Fame]] Baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://cityofharrah.com/ City of Harrah official website]
* [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/H/HA030.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Harrah]
* [http://www.kbec.com/index.php/component/content/article/114]

{{Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area}}
{{Oklahoma County, Oklahoma}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Oklahoma City metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Cities in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Cities in Oklahoma]]