Editing Okemah, Oklahoma

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Okemah, Oklahoma
| settlement_type          = City
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = " Home of Woody Guthrie and the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival "

<!-- Images -->
| image_skyline            = Okemah broadway.jpg
| imagesize                = 
| image_caption            = West Broadway, Downtown
| image_flag               = 
| image_seal               = <!-- Maps -->
| image_map                = OKMap-doton-Okemah.PNG
| mapsize                  = 250px
| map_caption              = Location of Okemah, Oklahoma
| image_map1               = 
| mapsize1                 = 
| map_caption1             = <!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = United States
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Oklahoma]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Oklahoma|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Okfuskee County, Oklahoma|Okfuskee]]

<!-- Government -->
| government_footnotes     = 
| government_type          = 
| leader_title             = 
| 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           = 8.28
| area_land_km2            = 8.03
| area_water_km2           = 0.25
| area_total_sq_mi         = 3.20
| area_land_sq_mi          = 3.10
| area_water_sq_mi         = 0.10

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes     = 
| population_total         = 3074
| population_density_km2   = 382.59
| population_density_sq_mi = 990.97

<!-- 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             = 866
| coordinates              = {{coord|35|25|45|N|96|17|59|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code              = 74859
| area_code                = [[area codes 539 and 918|539/918]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = 40-54200<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              = 2411310<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2411310}}</ref>
| website                  = [http://www.okemahok.org/ okemahok.org]
| footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
}}

'''Okemah''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|oʊ|ˈ|k|iː|m|ə}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʌ|k|i|m|ə}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aschmann.net/AmEng/#Au_Oklahoma|title=North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns|author=Rick Aschmann|date=2 May 2018|access-date=25 November 2019|website=Aschmann.net}}</ref> is the largest city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Okfuskee County, Oklahoma|Okfuskee County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=2011-06-07 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> It is the birthplace of folk music legend [[Woody Guthrie]]. [[Thlopthlocco Tribal Town]], a federally recognized [[Muscogee]] Indian tribe, is headquartered in Okemah. The population was 3,078 at the 2020 census, a 6.1 percent decline from 3,223 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]].
[[File:Gusher Okemah OK 1922.jpg|thumb|upright|Oil derrick in Okemah, Oklahoma, 1922]]

==History==
Historically occupied by the [[Osage Nation|Osage]] and [[Quapaw]], who ceded their lands to the United States by 1825, the area was assigned to the [[Creek Nation]] and specifically the [[Thlopthlocco Tribal Town]] after [[Indian Removal]] of tribes from the [[Southeast United States]] in the 1830s.

Okemah was named after a [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] Indian chief. In March 1902, Chief ''Okemah'' built a bark house in his tribe's traditional fashion. He had come to await the opening of the townsite, which took his name on April 22, 1902. In the [[Fox language|Kickapoo language]], ''okemah'' means "things up high," such as a highly placed person or town, or high ground.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

In preparation for Oklahoma's statehood, the [[Dawes Commission]] was authorized in 1896 to work with the [[Five Civilized Tribes]] to enroll their members for allotments of tribal land to individual households.  Registration of tribal members lasted from 1898 to 1906. After allotment, the government was going to declare the remaining tribal lands "surplus" and sell them to European-American settlers.

Okemah was platted by a group of [[Shawnee]] residents in March 1902 on land belonging to Mahala and Nocus Fixico, full-blood Creek. The Fixicos had no legal right at the time to sell their holding, as enrollment of tribal members on the Dawes Roll continued until 1906, and no land-sales were to take place by Indians until it was completed. That did not appear to affect the promoters or the development of the town.

On April 22, 1902, the formal opening launched the town. A post office opened on May 16,<ref name="EOHC-Okemah">Price, Carolyn S. Burnett. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Okemah." Retrieved February 9, 2013.[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OK004.html]</ref> and the town was incorporated in 1903. In the spring of 1904, Commission restrictions on the sale of townsite lots were removed. The [[Department of the Interior]] trustees of land held by American Indians paid the Fixicos $50 an acre for their land, and gave legal deeds to the purchasers who claimed title.

In the town's first week, the following stores were established: four general merchandise, two hardware, one 5 & 10 cent store, three drugstores, four groceries, three wagon-yards, four lumberyards, three cafes, one bakery, two millineries, four livery-barns, three blacksmiths, two dairies, two cotton-gins, and two weekly newspapers. Eight doctors settled there, four lawyers, two walnut log buyers, and one Chinese laundryman. Two hotels were quickly put up, including the three-story Broadway hotel, which set the city apart as an important town in early Oklahoma.

[[Okfuskee County]] had been organized at the time of statehood in 1907.  Okemah was chosen as county seat in a county election held August 27, 1908.

===Firsts===
[[File:Guthrie house.jpg|thumb|alt=A simple house|Woody Guthrie's [[Okfuskee County, Oklahoma]] childhood home as it appeared in 1979]]
[[File:Okemah mural.jpg|thumb|right|Mural by DeAnna Mauldin, depicting Woody Guthrie and Okfuskee County history, 510 W. Broadway, Okemah]]

The townsite was selected by two railroad surveyors, Perry Rodkey and H.R. Dexter. Dexter is credited with choosing the town name. They picked the site believing that two railroads, the [[Fort Smith and Western Railroad]] and the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway (later the [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railway]]) would intersect there. While the former did build a line through the site, the latter never did.<ref name="EOHC-Okemah"/>

The town's first state-chartered bank began business the day of the opening, April 22, 1902, in a tent on the northwest corner of the present Fifth and Broadway (now City Hall). C. J. Benson was president. W. H. Dill was vice president and served as cashier. It became the First National Bank<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B6M0AQAAMAAJ&dq=first+national+bank+of+okemah,+r.w.+armstrong&pg=PA647 The Bankers Magazine - Volume 76 - Page 647 - Google Books Result 1908 - Banks and banking]
Okemah—First National Bank: R. W. Armstrong, Asst. Cashicr.</ref> in 1903, but was liquidated in 1939, having failed due to the [[Dust Bowl]] and the [[Great Depression]].

J. E. Galloway was the first mayor; Perry Rodkey, first postman; E. D. Dexter, first hotel operator; Dill ran the first telephone company; John D. Richards had the first hardware store; McGee Brothers put in the first cotton gin; and E. E. Shook established the first lumberyard. The first church in the city was the North [[Methodist]], at Sixth and Ash, but the first church service [[Baptist]], presided over by the Rev. Black. The editor Charles Barnclaw published the first newspaper.

===Lynching===
{{main|Lynching of Laura and L. D. Nelson}}
Although a police force was organized in the town soon after its founding (a Mr. Franklin wore the first city policeman's badge), [[vigilante]]s were active during Okemah's early years. Law enforcement and justices of the peace were located some distance away. The vigilantes appeared to have had almost complete freedom of action.

In 1911, a black woman, 35-year-old Laura Nelson, and her teenage son, L. D., were [[lynched]] by a mob of white men. Accused of killing a police officer in an altercation at their home near [[Paden, Oklahoma|Paden]], they were kidnapped from the Okfuskee county jail and hanged from a [[suspension bridge]] over the [[North Canadian River]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Davidson|first1=James West|title="They say": Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HiazQsueqM0C&pg=PA5 5–8]}}</ref>

==Geography and climate==
{{climate chart
|Okemah, Oklahoma
|30|50|1.8
|34|55|2.1
|43|65|3.2
|51|73|4.4
|60|80|5.7
|68|88|5.2
|71|93|3.3
|70|93|3.3
|63|85|4.9
|52|74|3.9
|41|61|3.1
|33|52|2.6
|units = imperial
|float = right
|clear = both}}
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|2.7|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|2.6|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.1|sqmi|km2}} (2.63%) is water.

{{Weather box
| location                = Okemah, Oklahoma (1991–2020 averages)
| width                   = 50%
| single line             = Y 
| Jan high F              = 49.7
| Feb high F              = 54.8
| Mar high F              = 64.6
| Apr high F              = 72.9
| May high F              = 79.8
| Jun high F              = 88.1
| Jul high F              = 93.0
| Aug high F              = 92.5
| Sep high F              = 84.8
| Oct high F              = 74.1
| Nov high F              = 61.4
| Dec high F              = 51.5
| Jan record high F       = 82
| Feb record high F       = 93
| Mar record high F       = 94
| Apr record high F       = 99
| May record high F       = 97
| Jun record high F       = 108
| Jul record high F       = 114
| Aug record high F       = 115
| Sep record high F       = 111
| Oct record high F       = 99
| Nov record high F       = 88
| Dec record high F       = 83
| year record high F      = 115
| year high F             = 72.3
| Jan low F               = 30.3
| Feb low F               = 34.4
| Mar low F               = 42.5
| Apr low F               = 50.5
| May low F               = 60.1
| Jun low F               = 67.5
| Jul low F               = 71.3
| Aug low F               = 70.0
| Sep low F               = 63.3
| Oct low F               = 52.1
| Nov low F               = 41.4
| Dec low F               = 33.1
| Jan record low F        = −10
| Feb record low F        = −11
| Mar record low F        = −2
| Apr record low F        = 21
| May record low F        = 35
| Jun record low F        = 45
| Jul record low F        = 53
| Aug record low F        = 49
| Sep record low F        = 34
| Oct record low F        = 17
| Nov record low F        = 11
| Dec record low F        = −9
| year record low F       = −11
| year low F              = 51.4
| precipitation colour    = green
| Jan precipitation inch  = 1.76
| Feb precipitation inch  = 2.14
| Mar precipitation inch  = 3.20
| Apr precipitation inch  = 4.41
| May precipitation inch  = 5.72
| Jun precipitation inch  = 5.22
| Jul precipitation inch  = 3.28
| Aug precipitation inch  = 3.33
| Sep precipitation inch  = 4.85
| Oct precipitation inch  = 3.92
| Nov precipitation inch  = 3.08
| Dec precipitation inch  = 2.62
| year precipitation inch = 43.53
| Jan snow inch           = 2.9
| Feb snow inch           = 0.4
| Mar snow inch           = 0.6
| Apr snow inch           =  0
| May snow inch           =  0
| Jun snow inch           =  0
| Jul snow inch           =  0
| Aug snow inch           =  0
| Sep snow inch           =  0
| Oct snow inch           =  0
| Nov snow inch           = 0.3
| Dec snow inch           = 0.8
| year snow inch          = 5.0
| source 1                = [[NOAA]]<ref name= NOAA>{{cite web|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset=normals-monthly&timeframe=30&station=USC00346638|title = NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access|publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|access-date = 2021-12-03}}</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1910= 1389
|1920= 2162
|1930= 4002
|1940= 3811
|1950= 3454
|1960= 2836
|1970= 2913
|1980= 3381
|1990= 3085
|2000= 3038
|2010= 3223
|2020= 3074
|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>
}}
As of the census<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 3,038 people, 1,242 households, and 763 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,170.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 1,506 housing units at an average density of {{convert|580.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 69.09% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 2.37% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 22.84% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.10% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.46% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 5.13% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.94% of the population.

There were 1,242 households, out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% were married couples living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $21,306, and the median income for a family was $26,659. Males had a median income of $21,905 versus $15,375 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $12,645. About 19.5% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 38.6% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
===History===
S. L. O'Bannon was the teacher in the first school, which opened in 1902 with funds gained by subscribers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} Classes were held in a store building. The first school building was built in 1902. It was later replaced by the Wilson School on the same site. The first public school was opened with Dr. Z. Cheatwood as superintendent in 1904.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

A store building housed one of the first public schools, and the other was held in a building where the [[American Legion]] building now stands. Noble School, completed in 1907, was named for Miss Mae Noble. Okemah High School gained accreditation in 1912. It met in the old Noble School building until the building of 1918 was erected. In the high school complex, the band shop building was erected 1941 and a vocational building in 1948.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

==Parks, recreation and events==
[[Okemah Lake]], north of town, is a city lake that features swimming, boating, hunting, fishing, and camping.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://okemahok.org/city-services/parks-recreation/okemah-lake/|title=Okemah Lake|publisher=City of Okemah|access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref>

Okemah’s Municipal Park at Ash St. and S. 2nd St., now with picnic tables and playground equipment, was originally constructed by the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] in 1935.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/municipal-park-okemah-ok/ |title=Municipal Park-Okemah OK|publisher=The Living New Deal|access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref>

Pioneer Days in Okemah are the last weekend in April annually.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://okemahok.org/city-services/parks-recreation/pioneer-days/ |title=Pioneer Days|publisher=City of Okemah|access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref>

The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, also known as WoodyFest, occurs annually in July.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.woodyfest.com/history/|title=History of the Festival|date=31 March 2018|publisher=Woody Guthrie Folk Festival|access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref>

==Transportation==
Okemah is at the intersection of [[Interstate 40]] and [[Oklahoma State Highway 27|State Highway 27]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Okemah,+OK+74859/@35.4279202,-96.3344056,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b40c8ed4047a8b:0x618263ba473cdf13!8m2!3d35.4325854!4d-96.3050064 |title=Okemah, Oklahoma|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=July 4, 2020}}</ref>

Okemah Airport (FAA Identifier: F81), two miles south of town, features a 3,400-foot runway.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://okemahok.org/city-services/airport/|title=Airport|publisher=City of Okemah|access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Larry Coker]] - [[American football|Football]] coach
* [[Evan Felker]] - Lead singer for country music band [[Turnpike Troubadours]]
* [[John Fullbright]] - [[Americana music|americana]] singer/songwriter
* [[Woody Guthrie]] - [[Folk music|Folk]] singer
* [[Robert Higgs]] - [[Economic History|Economic historian]]
* [[Leon C. Phillips]] - Governor of Oklahoma, 1939–43
* [[William Reid Pogue]] - astronaut
* [[Shawna Russell]] - [[Country music|country]] singer/songwriter
<!-- *** INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTABLE PEOPLE SECTIONS ***
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==NRHP sites==
{{main|National Register of Historic Places listings in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma}}
The following sites in Okemah are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]:
*Okemah Armory
*Okfuskee County Courthouse

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Okemah, Oklahoma}}
* [http://www.okemahok.org/ City of Okemah]

{{Okfuskee County, Oklahoma}}

{{Oklahoma county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Cities in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Muscogee (Creek) Nation]]
[[Category:County seats in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1902]]
[[Category:Vigilantism in the United States]]
[[Category:1902 establishments in Indian Territory]]