El Reno, Oklahoma: Difference between revisions

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El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after the 1889 land rush and named for the nearby Fort Reno.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno">Cynthia Savage, "El Reno." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved October 10, 2013.</ref> It is located in Central Oklahoma, about Template:Convert west of downtown Oklahoma City.

History

File:El Reno 1891.png

Panoramic map of El Reno, 1891

File:Oklahoma - El Reno - NARA - 68147130 (cropped).jpg

View of the rail yards in 1944

The land of Canadian County belonged to the historic Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at the time of European encounter. In 1874, the United States established a fort to supervise the area and General Philip Sheridan took command. He named it Fort Reno in honor of his friend, Gen. Jesse L. Reno, who was killed in the American Civil War.<ref name="gannett">Template:Cite book</ref>

After the 1889 landrun, there were three entities the local postmaster had to keep separate - Fort Reno, Reno City, and the community township or Village of (El) Reno. The Village of El Reno originated shortly after the 1889 land run, with the post office coming into being in June of that year.

Although "el reno" means "the reindeer" in Spanish, the town was actually named, in part, after nearby Fort Reno, with the name "Reno" ultimately derived from Anglicized French "Reynaud".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>. Reindeer are not native to Oklahoma.Template:Citation needed

The town's name was taken from the nearby military post of Fort Reno, with the "el" (meaning "the" in Spanish) later added by the local postmaster to help differentiate the community from the also newly established Reno City.

Reno City was located on the north-side of the Canadian River five miles northeast of community of El Reno. The community of El Reno was located on the south-side of the Canadian river.

The original village townsite was platted by the Oklahoma Homestead and Town Company on 120 acres of the homestead of John Foreman. In 1890, Foreman's 120 acres along with 80 acres of Thomas Jensen's, were incorporated into the Village of El Reno.

After the railroad company announced their rail lines were going to run on the south side of the Canadian river, Reno City relocated to the township of El Reno. The original Reno City site north of the river was abandoned. What remained and continues to this day is Fort Reno and the city of El Reno.

El Reno is located on the 98th meridian west, about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City. The eastern side of the meridian was opened to non-Indian settlement in the Land Rush of 1889. The western side was opened in 1892, when the federal government also made some Cheyenne and Arapaho lands available for settlement by non-Native Americans. The town was subsequently selected as the land district office for the 1901 land lottery drawings.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno"/>

In 1932, the United States Southwestern Reformatory was constructed about Template:Convert west of El Reno. The federal reformatory housed male adult federal prisoners and was later restricted to house young adult male prisoners, aged 18 to 26. In the mid-1970s it was renamed by the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, as the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno (FCI El Reno). Prisoner age limits were lifted and men of all ages have been incarcerated here ever since. As medium-security prison, it has become the fifth-largest federal prison in the U.S. The prison is still one of the largest employers in El Reno.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno"/> In 2015 President Barack Obama visited the prison, the first time a sitting president has visited any federal prison.<ref>"President Obama Visits the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution." YouTube. July 16, 2015. Accessed September 9, 2015.</ref>

During World War II, Fort Reno, about Template:Convert northwest of El Reno, was the site of a prisoner of war camp for Germans and Italians. The POW cemetery has been preserved and has stones bearing the names of German and Italian prisoners who died there.

Following World War II, the US Army determined it did not need the fort. In 1948 the fort was transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for use as a research laboratory.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno"/> The laboratory studies environmentally sustainable forage and livestock production, contributing to preservation of the Great Plains of North America.

At one time, railroads contributed strongly to the city economy. A terminal and repair facility for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P or "Rock Island"), which employed a large number of people, was based here. Some 750 of the company's 970 employees in the state worked in El Reno.<ref name=The405/> Due to changes taking place throughout the railroad industry, the CRI&P went bankrupt in 1979. It abandoned the depot and railyards in 1980.<ref name=The405>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The railyards are still vacant.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno"/>

Culture

A legend says the fried onion burger was invented at the Hamburger Inn in El Reno in the 1920s so the owner could save money by using less meat in his five-cent burgers.<ref>"An Okie Onion Burger Crawl 100 Years In The Making." Eater.com. January 25, 2023, 9:15 am EST.</ref>

Since 1988 El Reno holds an annual Fried Onion Burger Day Festival in downtown the first Saturday in May.<ref name="ERMS">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2001, El Reno was the first city in Oklahoma to re-establish streetcar service in the downtown area: the Heritage Express Trolley. Such service had not been available since 1947, and it was the only operating trolley line in the state that year. Another line has since been started in Oklahoma City. The Heritage Express was installed with aid of a federal transportation grant and as part of a complex project also to improve the downtown's streets and drainage system.<ref name="The405" />

The former train depot and some other buildings were acquired by the Canadian County Historical Society for adaptive use as part of a museum complex.<ref name="EOHC-ElReno" /> The 1954 film noir Human Desire includes locomotive and yard scenes filmed in the El Reno rail yards.Template:Citation needed

El Reno is a Main Street America community. The Oklahoma Main Street Program is part of a national network affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. El Reno started its Main Street program in 1988; it was one of four cities in 2006 selected nationally to win the annual Great American Main Street Award.<ref name="MSA">Template:Cite web</ref> El Reno's program focusses on the Rock District of downtown.<ref name="ERMS" />

Buildings in the town that are on the National Register of Historic Places include the Carnegie Library, El Reno High School, and the Mennoville Mennonite Church.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert are land and Template:Convert (0.56%) is.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> water.

El Reno is located at the interchange of I-40 and U.S. Route 81. At one time, it sat on the boundary between Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, and sits approximately Template:Convert west of the old Chisholm Trail. Jesse Chisholm is buried nearby.Template:Citation needed

Climate and weather events

El Reno has endured numerous weather-related incidents.

On May 24, 2011, the violent and long-tracking 2011 El Reno–Piedmont tornado, an EF5 tornado, struck parts of northwestern El Reno. The tornado killed a total of 9 people, injured 181 others, and had winds measured at up to 295 mph<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> by mobile doppler radar near Interstate 40.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Two years later, on May 31, 2013, rural areas near El Reno were hit by a record-breaking multiple-vortex tornado. The tornado set a record with a width of Template:Convert. Multiple storm chasers, including Mike Bettes and Dan Robinson, were injured, and Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young of the TWISTEX team, alongside amateur Richard Henderson, were killed.<ref name="chaser">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="samaras">Template:Cite web</ref>

An EF3 tornado struck southern parts of El Reno on May 25, 2019. Touching down at 10:32 pm, the tornado damaged a service station before moving east-northeastward and crossing Interstate 40. It damaged billboards before striking a motel and a mobile home park at U.S. Highway 81, both of which suffered significant damage. One part of the motel had most of its second-floor walls destroyed, and several mobile homes were destroyed, killing two people and injuring many others. East of Highway 81, the tornado damaged an automobile service building and a house on Route 66. The tornado caused tree damage before dissipating on Alfadale Road north of Route 66. The tornado had a maximum estimated width of Template:Convert and injured 19 people.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>

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Demographics

Template:US Census population El Reno is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 16,749 people, 5,727 households, and 3,842 families resided in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. The 6,484 housing units averaged Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 71.8% White, 11.1% Native American, 7.2% African American, 0.5% Asian, 4.7% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 12.9% of the population.

Of the 5,727 households, which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were not families. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was distributed as 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,200, and for a family was $39,106. Males had a median income of $29,521 versus $20,107 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,570. About 11.4% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The City of El Reno operates under a council-manager government system. City employees include the city manager, finance director, police chief, fire chief, city clerk, public works director, code enforcement director, community services director, and city librarian.<ref>City of El Reno Template:Webarchive (accessed August 14, 2013)</ref>

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno.<ref>"FCI El Reno Contact Information Template:Webarchive." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on October 1, 2010.</ref>

Transportation

The Union Pacific railroad said El Reno is a "Train Town USA," one of 131 communities out of 7,300 communities it serves, because of the town's relationship with the line.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Canadian Valley Technology Center is on famed Route 66 about Template:Convert east of the city.
Redlands Community College opened in 1971.

Public school districts with parts of El Reno include: El Reno Public Schools, Banner Public School, Darlington Public School, Maple Public School, and Riverside Public School.<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

Media

The El Reno Tribune publishes Wednesday and Sunday and has a circulation around 5,000.<ref>FinderBinder: Oklahoma's Updated Media Directory, 2010 Winter Issue.</ref>

In film

Multiple movies have been filmed at least in part in El Reno, including:

Human Desire (1954), a Fritz Lang film<ref name=Films>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rain Man (1988), with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise<ref name=Films/>
Elizabethtown (2005), a Cameron Crowe film<ref name=Films/>
Parts of the film American Underdog were filmed in El Reno.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Stillwater (2021), with Matt Damon<ref name=Films/>
13 Minutes (2021), a disaster film<ref name=Films/>
Twisters (2024), a disaster film<ref name=Films/>

For many years the filmmaker George Kuchar would drive to El Reno to document the storm season, staying at the El Reno Motel. The result was his film Wild Night in El Reno.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>