Editing Rush Springs, Oklahoma

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Rush Springs, Oklahoma
| settlement_type    = [[Town]]
| nickname           = Radiator Springs
| motto              = "Watermelon Capital of the World"

<!-- Images -->
| image_skyline      = Rush Springs OK Downtown 3-2025.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Downtown Rush Springs in March 2025
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = <!-- Maps -->
| image_map          = OKMap-doton-RushSprings.PNG
| mapsize            = 250px
| map_caption        = Location of Rush Springs, 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       = 
| 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     = 3.01
| area_land_km2      = 3.01
| area_water_km2     = 0.00
| area_total_sq_mi   = 1.16
| area_land_sq_mi    = 1.16
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.00

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 997
| population_density_km2 = 331.32
| population_density_sq_mi = 858.00

<!-- 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       = 1296
| coordinates        = {{coord|34|46|44|N|97|57|26|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code        = 73082
| area_code          = [[Area code 580|580]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 40-64300<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 2412584<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2412584}}</ref>
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| pop_est_as_of      = 
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}}
'''Rush Springs''' is a town in [[Grady County, Oklahoma|Grady County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States. The population was 997 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], a 19% decrease from 2010.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web| url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US4064300| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Rush Springs town, 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> The town promotes itself as the "Watermelon Capital of the World."<ref>[http://newsok.com/article/2124990 Etter, Jim. "Catchy Slogans Strive to Put Towns on Map." ''The Oklahoman''. October 20, 1985.] Accessed November 3, 2016.</ref>

The community's largest event is the annual Rush Springs Watermelon Festival, which attracts about 30,000 people each year. They consume about 50,000 pounds of [[watermelon]] during this event.<ref>McNutt, Michael. [http://newsok.com/oklahoma-heat-wave-hasnt-dried-up-rush-springs-melon-crop/article/3697646 "Oklahoma heat wave hasn't dried up Rush Springs melon crop"], ''The Oklahoman''. Published August 3, 2012.</ref>

==History==
The [[Wichita people]] established a village about 1850 near some springs on Rush Creek. (The present-day town of Rush Springs later developed about {{convert|4|mi|0}} northwest of here.) Cattlemen watered their herds of cattle they were driving north from Texas to Kansas on the [[Chisholm Trail]], which passed east of here.

On October 1, 1858, an event known as the Battle of the Wichita Village occurred near here, with spillover to the Wichita when the US Army destroyed their crops.<ref name= "Brooks, Paula K.">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RU002, Brooks, Paula K. "Rush Springs." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.]  Retrieved August 6, 2012</ref>

That year, Brigadier General David S. Briggs had ordered Brevet Major [[Earl Van Dorn]] to take command of the Second Cavalry at [[Fort Belknap, Texas]]. He was directed to proceed north of the Red River into Indian Territory and forcibly restrain belligerent [[Comanche]] warriors who were raiding settlements. Van Dorn and his men stopped at Camp Radziminski in Indian Territory. Van Dorn and his men advanced on the Comanche, who were camped on Rush Creek near a Wichita village.{{efn|The Comanche campsite was about {{convert|6|miles|km}} south east of present-day Rush Springs.<ref name="Schroeder"/>}} The Army was apparently unaware that the two tribes were conducting a peace conference.<ref name="Schroeder">[https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WI004 Schroeder, Adriana G. "Wichita Village, Battle of the." Oklahoma Historical Society. Undated.]  Accessed November 3, 2019.</ref>

Van Dorn and his men attacked the Comanche camp about dawn on October 1, 1858, catching the warriors completely off guard. In the aftermath of the attack, the troops found that the Comanche had lost seventy people, mostly men but also some tribeswomen who had accompanied them. Any survivors had fled. The army casualties were four men dead and one missing, who was presumed killed. Major Van Dorn was seriously wounded, but survived to fight again. The army was reported to have set fire to the Wichita fields nearby, destroying their food crop and endangering their survival. The Wichita fled to Fort Arbuckle to seek assistance from the U.S. government.<ref name="Schroeder"/>

In 1871, supplies bound for [[Fort Sill]] (which had been founded in 1869), were brought through Rush Springs. The [[Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway]] (also known as the M-K-T or Katy) had been completed to the Choctaw Nation community of [[Caddo, Oklahoma|Caddo]]. Supplies were transferred here to wagons to transport them to Rush Springs. Freight and stage travel from Caddo to Rush Springs was discontinued about 1885.<ref name= "Brooks, Paula K."/>

The first post office was designated as Parr, and opened at the Samuel M. Huntley ranch house in July 1883. The house was southeast of Rush Springs. When the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]] (usually called simply the Rock Island) completed its line through Rush Springs in July 1892, the post office relocated into the town and was renamed for it. {{convert|2|mi2|km2}} of town was surveyed and platted. It was incorporated on November 21, 1898. At that time, the community was located within [[Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation]].<ref>Charles Goins, ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), plate 105.</ref>

By 1900 the community had 518 residents and 588 by 1907, when Oklahoma became a state.<ref name= "Brooks, Paula K."/> At that time, new county jurisdictions were set up, and Rush Springs was located in [[Grady County, Oklahoma]].

During the Great Depression, a [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] project was initiated on the east side of Rush Springs to provide employment and improve the region. Young men were paid to construct terraces and ponds and to restore vegetation by replanting trees. The project camp was opened June 18, 1933, and closed July 20, 1942.<ref>[http://chickashanews.com/features/x228008573/Grady-County-Historical-Society Grady County Historical Society Spotlight of the Week], http://chickashanews.com ''Chickasha Express-Star'']. Published July 25, 2012.</ref>

==Geography==
Rush Springs is located in southern Grady County. [[U.S. Route 81 in Oklahoma|U.S. Route 81]] passes through the town, leading north {{convert|19|mi}} to [[Chickasha, Oklahoma|Chickasha]], the [[county seat]], and south {{convert|20|mi}} to [[Duncan, Oklahoma|Duncan]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], Rush Springs has a total area of {{convert|2.7|km2|order=flip}}, all land.<ref name="Census 2010"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1900= 518
|1910= 823
|1920= 768
|1930= 1340
|1940= 1422
|1950= 1402
|1960= 1303
|1970= 1381
|1980= 1451
|1990= 1229
|2000= 1278
|2010= 1231
|2020= 997
|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 1,278 people, 525 households, and 349 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|1,201.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 627 housing units at an average density of {{convert|589.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 88.18% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 6.96% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.17% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 3.68% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.35% of the population.

There were 525 households, out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $21,078, and the median income for a family was $25,391. Males had a median income of $24,453 versus $20,769 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $10,803. About 24.7% of families and 32.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 45.3% of those under age 18 and 24.6% of those age 65 or over.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://chickasawcountry.com/events/rush-springs-watermelon-festival Rush Springs Watermelon Festival]

{{Grady County, Oklahoma}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Grady County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Towns in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1898]]