Amorita is a town in
Alfalfa County,
Oklahoma, United States. The population was 37 at the time of the
2010 census.
History
Amorita was founded in September, 1901. It is speculated that ''Amorita'' was likely named after the wife of railroad owner, Charles E. Ingersoll. At the time of its founding, the area was part of the much larger
Woods county. It did not become part of present-day Alfalfa county until the time of statehood in 1907.
The town was established in Byron township in 1901 approximately two miles north of the existing town of
Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
, by what was then known as the Choctaw Northern Railroad (later owned by the
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At the end ...
).
[ In that year, the railroad became the county's first, connecting Amorita to the other Alfalfa county towns of Aline, Augusta, ]Ingersoll Ingersoll may refer to:
People
*Ingersoll (surname)
*Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918), American lawyer and writer
Places Canada
* Ingersoll, Ontario
United States
* Ingersoll, Oklahoma
* Ingersoll, Wisconsin
* Ingersoll Township, Michigan
* ...
, Lambert, Driftwood
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Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves.
In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...
, and on into Kansas. City lots were sold when the railroad completed its rail line through the county in November 1901.
Although the initial sale of lots in November was small, within a month a butcher shop and a coal and grain business were established, and by February of the following year, two grain elevators were also opened. Farming was the predominant economic activity in the area at the time.[ The town was temporarily given a competitive advantage as a transportation hub because nearby Byron did not acquire its own competing railroad access (the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway) until October 1902.]
Residents voted to incorporate their town in May 1912. In 1919 a fifty-thousand-dollar bond was approved to construct a new school building for the consolidated schools of Amorita and two other districts. In 1921, voters of both Byron and Amorita jointly approved the construction of power lines extending from Kansas to supply electricity to both their towns.[
The railroad abandoned its line through the town in 1936. In the 1960s, the Amorita school was consolidated into a single entity along with the nearby districts of Burlington, ]Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
, and Driftwood
__NOTOC__
Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves.
In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...
, which was located in Burlington. By 1970, the population had fallen to 63 persons and by 2010, it had declined to just 37 residents.[
]
Geography
Amorita lies along State Highway 58, between Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
to the south and the Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
border to the north.
The town has a total area of , all land, with a population density of 153 people per square mile.
Demographics
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 37 people living in the town. The population density was . There were 19 housing units in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 84.09% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 6.82% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 4.55% Native American, and 4.55% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.27% of the population.
There were 14 households in the town, out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 27.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.57.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.7% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 18.2% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 29.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 57.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 70.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $38,125. Males had a median income of $21,875 versus $30,625 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $12,137. There were 15.4% of families and 7.8% of the population living below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including no one under the age of eighteen and none of those over 64.
References
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Towns in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma
Towns in Oklahoma