Editing Lehigh, Oklahoma

{{short description|City in Oklahoma, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Lehigh, Oklahoma
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

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|image_skyline            = Lehigh, Oklahoma.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Owl Grocery in Lehigh, 2012
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = OKMap-doton-Lehigh.PNG
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Lehigh, Oklahoma
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|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        = [[Coal County, Oklahoma|Coal]]

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|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|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           = 4.20
|area_land_km2            = 4.07
|area_water_km2           = 0.14
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.62
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.57
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.05

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 272
|population_density_km2   = 66.84
|population_density_sq_mi = 173.14

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|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             = 600
|coordinates             = {{coord|34|28|14|N|96|13|15|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 74556
|area_code                = [[Area code 580|580]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 40-42200<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2410817<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2410817}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
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}}

'''Lehigh''' is a city in [[Coal County, Oklahoma|Coal County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States. Its population was 356 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]].<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4042200| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Lehigh city, Oklahoma| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=March 4, 2015| archive-url=https://archive.today/20150309024657/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4042200| archive-date=March 9, 2015| url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
Lehigh began as the first mining camp in what is now Coal County, Oklahoma.<ref name="EOHC-Lehigh">Caruthers, Lorene. [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LE011 "Lehigh,"] ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed July 4, 2015.</ref> At the time of its founding, Lehigh was located in [[Atoka County, Choctaw Nation]].<ref>Morris, John W. ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1986), plate 38.</ref> It was originally named Boone, but the name was changed to Lehigh.<ref name="EOHC-Lehigh"/> The new name was taken from [[Lehigh County, Pennsylvania]], a coal-mining region.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n183 184]}}</ref><ref name="EOHC-Lehigh"/>

A post office opened in Lehigh, Indian Territory, on April 4, 1882, and several railroads built lines to Lehigh, including the [[Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad]], the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]], and the [[Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway]].<ref name="EOHC-Lehigh"/>{{efn|At least one other railroad, the Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railway Company, was chartered specifically to build a line to Lehigh—this one from [[Clinton, Oklahoma]]—but never did so.  This company did build a line in the opposite direction, becoming the [[Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railroad]].<ref name=Prairie>{{cite web|url= https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70285/ |title= Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870 to April 1, 1978, p.36|publisher=Oklahoma Digital Prairie|accessdate=October 12, 2021}}</ref>}} In addition to mining, ranching was an important contributor to the local economy. Stockyards were built in 1884 and, even as they neared completion, 23 railroad cars of cattle and seven carloads of hogs awaited shipping.<ref>''The Branding Iron'' newspaper, published in Atoka, Indian Territory, March 15, 1884, page 1.</ref>

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lehigh was a growing settlement that greatly profited from the coal mines surrounding it.<ref name="nrhpnom-Merchants">{{cite journal
|url={{NRHP url|id=06001112}}
|format=pdf
|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Merchants National Bank Building
|author= Jim Gabbart
|date= October 26, 2006
|publisher=National Park Service}}
{{cite journal
|url={{NRHP url|id=06001112|photos=y}}
|format=pdf
|title=Accompanying 7 photos, from 2006.
|journal=National Register of Historic Places Inventory}}</ref> During the 1910s and 1920s, the demand for coal lessened as railroads switched to oil-powered trains.<ref name="nrhpnom-Merchants"/>{{efn|By the time of the Thirty-sixth annual report of the Department of Mines and Minerals in 1943, combined yearly production by the Lehigh Coal Company, Dawley Coal Company and the Wells Coal Company—all of Lehigh—was 2,562 tons.  For comparison, combined production by companies in [[Henryetta, Oklahoma]], that year was over 600,000 tons.<ref name=Coal>{{cite web|url= https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/24961 |title=Thirty-sixth annual report of the Department of Mines and Minerals, 1943, pp.12- 15|publisher=Oklahoma Digital Prairie|accessdate=May 8, 2021}}</ref>}} The mines eventually closed, and in the early 1920s, [[boll weevil]]s destroyed the cotton crops in the area.<ref name="nrhpnom-Merchants"/> Many businesses closed, and people left the town.<ref name="nrhpnom-Merchants"/> The [[Merchants National Bank Building]] in Lehigh is the only structure that remains from the once-prosperous downtown area.<ref name="nrhpnom-Merchants"/>

==Geography==
Lehigh is located in southeastern Coal County. [[U.S. Route 75 in Oklahoma|U.S. Route 75]] passes through the city, leading north {{convert|5|mi|0}} to [[Coalgate, Oklahoma|Coalgate]], the [[county seat]], and southeast {{convert|9|mi|0}} to [[Atoka, Oklahoma|Atoka]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|1.6|sqmi|km2}}, of which  {{convert|0.04|sqmi|km2}} (2.47%) is covered by water.

===Climate===
<!--Infobox begins-->{{Weather box
|location = Lehigh, Oklahoma
|single line = Y
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|Jan high F = 49.2
|Feb high F = 54.6
|Mar high F = 63.9
|Apr high F = 73.5
|May high F = 79.6
|Jun high F = 87.4
|Jul high F = 93.4
|Aug high F = 94.1
|Sep high F = 85.7
|Oct high F = 75.7
|Nov high F = 63.4
|Dec high F = 52.9
|year high F= 72.8
|Jan low F = 27.0
|Feb low F = 31.4
|Mar low F = 40.6
|Apr low F = 50.2
|May low F = 58.5
|Jun low F = 66.6
|Jul low F = 71.0
|Aug low F = 70.1
|Sep low F = 63.0
|Oct low F = 51.3
|Nov low F = 40.9
|Dec low F = 30.9
|year low F= 50.1
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|Jan precipitation inch = 2.0
|Feb precipitation inch = 2.5
|Mar precipitation inch = 3.6
|Apr precipitation inch = 4.6
|May precipitation inch = 5.3
|Jun precipitation inch = 4.2
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.5
|Aug precipitation inch = 2.5
|Sep precipitation inch = 4.8
|Oct precipitation inch = 3.7
|Nov precipitation inch = 3.2
|Dec precipitation inch = 2.3
|year precipitation inch=41.3
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|source 1 = weather.com
|source 2 = Weatherbase.com <ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=493043&refer= | title = Historical Weather for Lehigh, Oklahoma, United States}}</ref>
|date=October 2, 2010
}}<!--Infobox ends-->

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1900= 1500
|1910= 1880
|1920= 1898
|1930= 497
|1940= 519
|1950= 352
|1960= 296
|1970= 296
|1980= 284
|1990= 303
|2000= 315
|2010= 356
|2020= 272
|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, 2015}}</ref>
}}
At the 2000 [[census]],<ref name="GR2" /> 315 people, 114 households and 77 families were residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|199.9|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The 144 housing units had an average density of {{convert|91.4|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The [[Race (U.S. Census)|racial makeup]] of the city was 76.51% White, 0.95% African American, 14.92% Native American, 0.95% Asian, and 6.67% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.27% of the population.

Of the 114 households,29.8% had children under 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were not families. About 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.76, and the average family size was 3.26.

The age distribution was 28.9% under 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.4 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 101.8 males.

The [[median household income]] was $24,16, and the median family income was $25,156. Males had a median income of $20,278 compared with $17,344 for females. The [[per capita income]] was $10,699. About 18.8% of families and 27.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 37.8% of those under 18 and 12.5% of those 65 or over.

== Notable people ==
* [[Rube Foster (AL pitcher)|Rube Foster]], baseball player who won World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox in 1915 and 1916
* [[Patrick J. Hurley]], U.S. Secretary of War from 1929 to 1933
* [[Benjamin Franklin Smallwood]], principal chief of [[Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma|Choctaw Nation]] from 1888 to 1890<ref>Meserve, John Bartlett. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v019/v019p213.html "Chief Benjamin Franklin Smallwood and Chief Jefferson Gardner,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054815/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v019/v019p213.html |date=2016-03-04 }} ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'', Volume 19, No. 3, September, 1941.</ref>
* [[Muriel Hazel Wright]], historian, was born here in 1889.<ref name=fem>[http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/muriel-hazel-wright/ Muriel Hazel Wright], Joey Horsley, FemBio.org, retrieved 8 February 2015</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Oklahoma}}
* [[List of municipalities in Oklahoma]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{commons category-inline|Lehigh, Oklahoma}}
{{reflist|22em}}

{{Coal County, Oklahoma}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Cities in Coal County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma]]