Choctaw is a city in
Oklahoma County
Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ci ...
,
Oklahoma, United States. It is the oldest chartered town in
Oklahoma Territory. The city is located approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) east of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
and is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
Choctaw became a community in 1890, but was not given actual status as a town until 1893 when a territorial governor was appointed for Oklahoma. It officially celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1993.
In 1950, Choctaw was in an agricultural area. It had a population of 355 in that year. Despite its name, the town has no cultural, historical or governmental ties to the
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...
. The tribal headquarters and casino are located in the southeastern part of the state in
Durant, Oklahoma, and the
Choctaw Capitol Building
The Choctaw Capitol Building ( cho, Chuka Hanta Chahta) is a historic building built in 1884 that housed the government of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma from 1884 to 1907. The building is located in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, two miles north ...
and annual Labor Day Festival are in
Tuskahoma, Oklahoma
Tuskahoma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, four miles east of Clayton. It was the former seat of the Choctaw Nation government prior to Oklahoma statehood. The popu ...
.
Before Choctaw was chartered, the area included a part of William McClure's 7C Ranch and was known for a trading post and a camping spot near a spring.
[Everett, Dianna]
"Choctaw (City),"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed March 25, 2015.
A community emerged on the east of land John S. Muzzy claimed in the 1889 land run and received a postal designation in early 1890.
The town incorporated in April 1904. When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the town had 230 residents, four churches, a school, a bank, a newspaper and telephone service. By 1909, the town had three gins. The population grew very little during the Great Depression.
Geography
Choctaw is a city just east of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
and has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Its latitude and longitude is (35.482383, -97.267330).
Ecoregion and Tourism Region
Choctaw is located in the
Cross Timbers
The term Cross Timbers, also known as Ecoregion 29, Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains, is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas. Made up of a mix of prairie ...
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
and the
Frontier Country tourism region
A tourism region is a geographical region that has been designated by a governmental organization or tourism bureau as having common cultural or environmental characteristics. These regions are often named after historical or current administrati ...
.
Climate
Choctaw has a
humid subtropical climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfa'') and lies in an area known as
Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley is a loosely defined area of the central United States where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, ...
characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing
severe weather
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmos ...
. An average of 54
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es strike the state per year.
Demographics
2000 census
At the 2000
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 ...
,
there were 9,377 people, 3 households and 2,808 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 346.4 per square mile (133.7/km). There were 3,617 housing units at an average density of 133.6 per square mile (51.6/km). The racial makeup of the city was 88.80%
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 ...
, 1.64%
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 ...
, 3.70%
Native American, 0.62%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.85% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 4.32% 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 2.79% of the population.
There were 3,450 households, of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.0% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.6% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 2.99.
25.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.
The
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways o ...
was $49,291 and the median family income was $55,437. Males had a median income of $36,540 versus $27,914 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 city was $21,041. About 3.7% of families and 5.9% of the population were 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 9.0% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.
City government
The City of Choctaw has a
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
made up of elected officials and led by a
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
. A council-appointed city manager runs the day-to-day administration of the city and oversees city staff. Individual departments such as the police department and fire department are overseen by a police chief and fire chief, respectively.
Arts and culture
The owners of the Old Germany Restaurant, a business opened on March 1, 1976, worked with the city and the chamber of commerce to hold an annual, eight-day Oktoberfest event featuring German food, beer, wine and dancing.
In April 2018, Old Germany Restaurant closed its doors for good after 42 years of business. Mike Turek, the owner of the restaurant, announced that the annual Oktoberfest event would be cancelled for good, as well.
Two months after closing, Old Germany Restaurant reopened its doors after finding investors to help keep the business open. It also hosted the annual Oktoberfest for a 4-day run.
The town has a small museum dedicated to
beer stein
A beer stein ( ), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American ''Vogue'' magazine that describes ...
s, the Stramski Collection.
Education
Choctaw contains a career technology school, th
Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center and a number of schools in the
Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District.
Choctaw High School's Varsity Academic Team is ranked 1st in Oklahoma as of 2017 and has been invited to multiple national-level competitions after winning the 6A State Championship in February 2017.
Choctaw public schools spend $4,133 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $6,058. There are about 15 students per teacher in Choctaw.
Students graduating from Choctaw High School also have the opportunity to take advantage of the "Ticket to Rose" program at
Rose State College
Rose State College is a public community college in Midwest City, Oklahoma.
History
Rose State College was originally named Oscar Rose Junior CollegeBritton, Terry D.,Rose State College" Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture' (accessed M ...
. Ticket to Rose provides a scholarship for tuition and mandatory fees for all graduates of Choctaw High School.
Notable people
*
Josh Blackburn
Josh Blackburn (born November 13, 1978 in North Pole, Alaska) is a retired American ice hockey goaltender.
Playing career
He played college hockey for the Michigan Wolverines. After turning professional, he played for the Augusta Lynx and Colum ...
, former professional ice hockey goalie
*
Lyle Boren, father of
David L. Boren and former U.S. Congressman
*
Joe Dickinson, former college football coach
*
Gary Haught, former MLB pitcher
*
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote hi ...
, author
*
Becka Leathers
Becka Anne Leathers is an American Freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler from Choctaw, Oklahoma.
Domestic career
In her youth, she was a multi-time national champion, including cadet and junior national champion.
In college, she was a WCWA na ...
, wrestler
*
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portr ...
, actor
[ (accessed July 22, 2019)]
References
External links
City of Choctaw* Everett, Dianna
"Choctaw (City),"''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed March 25, 2015.
Choctaw Times
{{authority control
Oklahoma City metropolitan area
Cities in Oklahoma
Cities in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Populated places established in 1890
1890 establishments in Oklahoma Territory