Editing Minco, Oklahoma

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Minco, Oklahoma
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|nickname                 = The Land of Milk and Honey<ref name="Nelson"/>
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
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|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = 
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = OKMap-doton-Minco.PNG
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Minco, 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        = [[Grady County, Oklahoma|Grady]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = Matt Gore<ref name="MincoGov"/>
|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           = 31.88
|area_land_km2            = 31.79
|area_water_km2           = 0.09
|area_total_sq_mi         = 12.31
|area_land_sq_mi          = 12.28
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.04

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 1500
|population_density_km2   = 47.18
|population_density_sq_mi = 122.19

<!-- General information -->
|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             = 1309
|coordinates              = {{coord|35|19|03|N|97|57|06|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 73059
|area_code                = [[Area code 405|405]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 40-48750<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              = 2411117<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2411117}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
}}
'''Minco''' is a city in [[Grady County, Oklahoma|Grady County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States. The population was 1,500 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], a 8.1% decrease from 2010.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web| url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US4048750| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Minco city, Oklahoma| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| work=American Factfinder| access-date=January 26, 2017}} {{dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==History ==
Present-day Minco began as a settlement named Silver City on the [[Chisholm Trail]]. The community was initially a collection of tents housing Caddo, Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche tribesmen.<ref name="EOHC-Minco">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI037 Jackson, Gwen. "Minco." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''] Accessed June 15, 2018.</ref> It was approximately {{convert|7|miles|km}} east of the present-day location. After the Rock Island extended its railroad track to the Chisholm Trail, the town physically moved to the end of the rail line and renamed itself Minco.<ref name= "Nelson"/>

The town was originally included in the [[Chickasaw Nation]]. Minco is believed to be named after the great Chickasaw chief and warrior, ''Itawamba Minco'',{{efn|Minco is said to mean "Big Chief" in the Choctaw language.<ref name= "Nelson"/> The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' says it simply means "chief."<ref name="EOHC-Minco"/>}} who later acquired the name of [[Levi Colbert]], and who resided on Chickasaw land in [[Mississippi]], near [[Cotton Gin Port, Mississippi|Cotton Gin Port]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.minco-ok.com/minco/ |title=Minco Community Page |access-date=2008-12-14}}</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:CBCAMPBELL.jpg|thumb|left|C.B. Campbell]] -->
Minco was officially settled sometime ''circa'' 1890, several years before Oklahoma achieved statehood. The post office opened in July 1890.<ref name="EOHC-Minco"/>

In its early stages, Minco was a very busy town because of its location at the end of the [[Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad]] until the railroad was extended further south two years later.<ref name=remember>{{cite web |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/ok/grady/newspapers/remember.txt |title=Do You Remember When? |access-date=2008-12-14 |author=GG Williams |year=1969}}</ref> Charles B. Campbell owned the occupancy rights of the land that the town was built on. His wife was Miss Maggie (Margaret) Williams, a daughter of W. G. (Caddo Bill) Williams, owner of the Half Moon Ranch, who started Silver City in 1872, by building a trading store for those cattlemen driving their herds of cattle up the Chisholm Trail.<ref name=remember />

Before the establishment of Minco as a town, three major expeditions passed through the area. The first expedition was conducted by Captain [[Randolph B. Marcy]] in 1849.{{efn|Marcy later became famous for his 1859 book, ''The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions, with Maps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific''. During the Civil War, he served as chief of staff to [[George A. Custer]], who had married a daughter of Marcy, then was appointed as Inspector General of the U.S. Army, and was ultimately promoted to full general in 1877.}} Marcy was ordered to escort 1,500 individuals headed to the [[California Gold Rush|California gold fields]]. When the expedition approached the Minco area they kept to the south side of Buggy Creek, which Marcy named "Deer Creek". Marcy named his route the Fort Smith to Santa Fe Trail. There was a road established in 1839-1840 on the north side of the [[Canadian River]], that was also named the Fort Smith to Santa Fe Trail. This road had been laid out by Josiah Gregg, a [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] merchant who had connections with merchants in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]].

During the summer of 1853, the first railroad survey was conducted from Fort Smith to [[Los Angeles]] by Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple. Whipple's survey followed Marcy's route from Fort Smith, until they reached the [[Caddo County, Oklahoma|Caddo County]] Buttes. At that point the expedition moved westward, whereas Marcy had turned north to join the Fort Smith to the [[Santa Fe Trail]], not far north of [[Hydro, Oklahoma|Hydro]]. Whipple continued westward, leaving Oklahoma just west of the Antelope Hills in present-day [[Roger Mills County, Oklahoma|Roger Mills County]].

The Rock Island Railroad Co.'s original purpose in extending the railroad to Minco was to provide a gateway for the shipping of cattle from the grazing lands of the Chickasaw Nation, just to the south of the town. On August 4, 1901, the Chickasaw Nation's land was opened to white settlement, making Minco a railroad hub for the entire region.<ref name=remember />

On October 14, 1901, local citizens formed a company for the purpose of selling vacant lots in the town to encourage settlement. It was known as the Minco Townsite and Investment Company.<ref name="remember"/>

Minco was originally composed mainly of merchants who provided supplies for the many travelers that used the railroad infrastructure of the town. It is the oldest town in the western part of Oklahoma, so its many businesses served residents for many miles around. The hardware store and tin shop originally opened by Kirk Woodworth in 1891 is still in existence. The remains of some of the hotels that were used by the many temporary residents stand along its Main Street.<ref name=remember />

In September 1894 Meta Chestnutt, a teacher from [[North Carolina]] who was determined to bring education to the frontier, specifically to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], along with the services of J.H. Bond, established the El Meta Bond College, one of the first of its kind in the area. The college offered elementary, grammar, and high school courses along with some music and drama courses. Having faced economic troubles for the whole of its existence, it was decommissioned in 1920 due to decreasing enrollment after the arrival of newer educational institutions that came with statehood. After the demolition of the old school building, a modern masonry armory was constructed in 1936 and today serves as a community gathering center. A community park occupies part of the old campus. In this park there is a plaque commemorating Meta Chestnutt and her contributions to the school.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~minco/fotos/el_meta_bond_college.htm |title='Chickasha Daily Express' |author=Ralph Marsh |date=June 3, 1958 |access-date=2008-12-14}}</ref>

In 1960, the first municipal [[natural gas]] company in Oklahoma was founded in Minco by James Burton Branum, Jr. It operated along with the Minco Tag Agency from an office in the back of what was then Branum's Variety Store on Main street.<ref>http://www.manta.com/c/mm0094s/minco-gas-authority {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://9.jmb.mx/jmb_family_history/jbb1/|title=James Burton Branum, Jr. &#124;}}</ref>

In 2007, the Minco Historical Society established a museum to exhibit the numerous historical facts associated with the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.minco-ok.com/history/|title = MInco Historical Society}}</ref>

==Geography==
Minco is located in northern Grady County. The city limits extend north to the [[Canadian River]], which serves as the border with [[Canadian County, Oklahoma|Canadian County]]. [[U.S. Route 81 in Oklahoma|U.S. Route 81]] passes through the center of town, leading north {{convert|16|mi}} to [[El Reno, Oklahoma|El Reno]] and south {{convert|19|mi}} to [[Chickasha, Oklahoma|Chickasha]], the Grady County seat. [[Oklahoma State Highway 37]] leads east from the center of Minco {{convert|8|mi|0}} to [[Tuttle, Oklahoma|Tuttle]] and west from the northern part of Minco {{convert|10|mi|0}} to [[Cogar, Oklahoma|Cogar]]. [[Oklahoma City]] is {{convert|35|mi}} to the northeast of Minco.

In the 2010 census, Minco had a total area of {{convert|31.9|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|31.8|km2|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|0.1|sqkm|order=flip|2}}, or 0.28%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010"/>

A musical tour of the town by comic Lucas Ross can be seen here.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211206/wQAuyx98oME Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20101104185939/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=wQAuyx98oME Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQAuyx98oME| title = "Welcome" to Minco | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1910= 706
|1920= 606
|1930= 962
|1940= 921
|1950= 978
|1960= 1021
|1970= 1129
|1980= 1489
|1990= 1411
|2000= 1672
|2010= 1632
|2020= 1500
|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>
}}
In the 2000 census, there were 1,672 people, 658 households, and 467 families living in Minco.<ref name="GR2" /> The population density was {{convert|136.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 714 housing units at an average density of {{convert|58.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 91.99% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.06% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 3.11% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.06% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 2.33% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 2.45% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 3.47% of the population.

In 2000, there were 658 households, out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.07.

In 2000, 29.1% of Minco's population were under the age of 18, 7.8% were aged from 18 to 24, 26.8% were aged from 25 to 44, 20.7% were aged from 45 to 64, and 15.7% were 65 years of age or older. In 2000, the median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in Minco was $31,098, and the median income for a family was $40,223. Males had a median income of $30,357 versus $22,426 for females. The [[per capita income]] for Minco was $18,331. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 13.2% of those under age 18, and 22.3% of those age 65 or over.

==Economy==
===Agriculture===
A sign at the city limits reads, "Welcome to Minco, The Land of Milk and Honey". It is based on the town having a large number of dairy farmers and Oklahoma's largest beekeeping company, Gibson-Ross Clover Bloom Honey. Since 1990, every first Saturday of December, Minco brings in thousands of tourists to the Christmas Honey Festival. Jim Ross, owner of the Ross Honey Company, gives tours all day and shows the entire honey production process.<ref name="Nelson">[https://newsok.com/article/2630164/minco-is-land-of-milk-honey Nelson, Melissa. "Minco Is Land Of Milk, Honey." NewsOK. October 19, 1998.] Accessed June 14, 2018.</ref>

===Electric power generation===
In 2012, construction began on a series of wind farms near Minco, named Minco I, Minco II, and Minco III. In 2017, the wind farms generated 300 megawatts of electricity,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/pdf_redesign/MincoWind.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-02-11 |archive-date=2016-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910170555/http://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/pdf_redesign/MincoWind.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> some of which is used to power Google's Mayes County, Oklahoma facility.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.windpowerintelligence.com/article/OvPEGY95ns/2011/11/30/usa_nexteras_minco_ii_starts_generating_power_for_google/|title=Intelligence &#124; Windpower Monthly}}</ref>

==Media==
Minco has two weekly newspapers. The ''Minco Millennium'' is located on the corner of Main Street and Highway 81, and has been published every week since the summer of 1998. The ''Minco-Union City Times'' is a newspaper that serves Minco and [[Union City, Oklahoma|Union City]].

Minco's earlier newspapers and years of publication since origin are as follows:
*''Minco Minstrel'', 1890–1897, 190?-1916, 1921–1999
*''Minco Monitor'', 1892-1899
*''Minco Weekly'', 1899-1900
*''Minco Herald'', 1916–1921 (this time period fills in the Minstrel gap)

Microfilm copies of these papers are available at the Oklahoma Historical Society building, south of the state capital, on the second floor.

==Government==
Minco has a mayor and four council members. There are four wards, with one council member from each. It has its own police department and a fire department.<ref name="MincoGov">[http://www.minco-ok.com/minco/government.htm "Government." Minco, Oklahoma.] Accessed February 24, 2018.</ref>

==Notable person==
* [[Sherri Hill]], fashion designer

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://www.minco-ok.com/minco/ Minco community website]

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

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Oklahoma City metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Cities in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Cities in Grady County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1890]]
[[Category:1890 establishments in Oklahoma Territory]]