Comanche County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 121,125, making it the fifth-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Lawton. The county was created in 1901 as part of

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

. It was named for the Comanche tribal nation.Linda D. Wilson, "Comanche County." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed September 18, 2011, Comanche County is included in the Lawton, OK metropolitan statistical area. Built on former reservation lands of the

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

, and

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, Comanche County was open for settlement on August 16, 1901, by lottery. The region has three cities and seven towns as well as the

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

military installation and Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The landscape of the county is typical of the Great Plains with flat topography and gently rolling hills, while the areas in the north are marked by the

Wichita Mountains The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-south ...

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

and three major US Highways serve the county by automobile, the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport serves the county by air, and

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

and Lawton Area Transit System serve the county by bus. Comanche County's economy is largely based in the government sector which consist of half of the county's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

. The governance of the county is led by a three commission board, which are elected in four year staggered terms. The county is served by several school districts and Cameron University in education as well as three hospitals for health care.

History

The land that is present day Oklahoma was first settled by prehistoric American Indians including the Clovis 11500 BCE,

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jers ...

10600 BCE and Plainview 10000 BCE cultures. Western explorers came to the region in the 16th century with Spanish explorer

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

visiting in 1541. Most of the region during this time was settled by the Wichita and

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

people. Around the 1700s, two tribes from the North, the Comanches and Kiowas, migrated to the Oklahoma and Texas region. For most of the 18th century, the Oklahoma region was under French control as

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. In 1803, the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

brought the area under United States control. In 1830, Congress passed the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...

, which removed American Indian tribes and relocated them to

. The southern part of the territory was originally assigned to the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

until 1867 when the

Medicine Lodge Treaty The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by r ...

allotted the southwest portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw's lands to the

, and

tribes.

was established in 1869 by Major General Philip Sheridan who was leading a campaign in Indian Territory to stop raids into Texas by American Indian tribes.Fort SillGlobalsecurity.org
(accessed May 23, 2010). In 1874, the

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of flatland in Nort ...

broke out in the region when the Comanche, Kiowa and Southern Cheyenne left their Indian Territory reservation. Attrition and skirmishes by the US Army finally forced the return of the tribes back to Indian Territory in June 1875. In 1891, the United States Congress appointed a commission to meet with the tribal leaders and come to an agreement allowing white settlement in the region. Years of controversy and legal maneuvering ensued before President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

issued a proclamation on July 4, 1901, that gave the federal government control over of surplus Indian land. Three sites in

and Comanche Counties were selected for county seats with Lawton designated as the Comanche County seat. Non-Indian settlement was opened through an auction of lots beginning on August 6, 1901. In December 1906, the south regions of the county reserved for grazing land reserved for American Indian livestock, Big Pasture, were open for settlement. In 1910, the western portion of Comanche County and southern part of Kiowa County were used to create the short lived county of Swanson. After a lawsuit brought by Comanche County, Swanson County was dissolved by the Supreme Court on June 27, 1911. In 1912, the southern portion of Comanche County, which at the time extended to the Red River, were used to create the new county of Cotton County.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. Comanche County lies in an area that is typical of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

with

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, few trees, and generally flat topography with gently rolling hills. The north region of the county consists of the

including Mount Scott and Mount Pinchot the area's highest peaks. The area consists mostly of

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

Post Oak Conglomerate

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

on the northern sections of the county. In the south sections of the county, Permian Garber Sandstone is commonly found with some Hennessey Group shale. Area creeks including East Cache Creek and West Cache Creek contain deposits of

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

. To the northwest, the

consist primarily of Wichita Granite Group from the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

Period. There are three cities in Comanche County. The largest, Lawton is located in the center of the county and is the county seat. According to the US census, the population of Lawton was 96,867 in 2010, which is 78 percent of the county's population. Cache is located to the west of Lawton on US Highway 62 and has a population of 2,796. In the northeast, Elgin is located along

and has a population of 2,156. Several towns dot the county including: Fletcher, Sterling in the northeast, Medicine Park in the north central region, Indiahoma in the west,

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

in the southeast, and

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

and Faxon in the southern regions of the county. Also located in Comanche County is Fort Sill. The 90,000 acre installation is home to the US Army Field Artillery Training Center and the Air Defense Artillery. Protected areas in Comanche County include the 59,020 acre Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1901 the refuge is one of the 546 wildlife refuges throughout the United States to provide a natural habitat for native grazing animals like the Bison, Elk, and Texas longhorn cattle.

Adjacent counties

* Kiowa County (northwest) * Tillman County (southwest) * Cotton County (south) * Stephens County (southeast) * Grady County (northeast) * Caddo County (north)

Climate

Comanche County lies in a dry subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''), with frequent variations in weather daily, except during the constantly hot and dry summer months. Frequent strong winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help to lessen the hotter weather. Northerly winds during the winter can occasionally intensify cold periods. The average mean temperature for the southwest Oklahoma is . The summers can be extremely hot with an average 21 days with temperatures and above. The winter months are typically mild, though there can be periods of extreme cold. The area averages eight days per year that fail to rise above freezing. The region receives about of precipitation and less than of snow annually. Typically in late April through early June, Comanche County is prone to

severe weather Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. These vary depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High ...

which can include tornadoes. Notably in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

, an F4 tornado and again in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

an F3 tornado struck the southern region of Lawton.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 124,098 people, 44,982 households, and 30,303 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 50,739 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 64.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 17.5%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 5.9% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.6%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3.0% from other races, and 6.5% from two or more races; 11.2% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race (7.0% Mexican, 2.4% Puerto Rican, 0.3% Spanish, 0.2%

Panamanian Panamanians (; feminine ) are people identified with Panama, a country in Central America (which is the central section of the American continent), and with residential, legal, historical, or cultural connections with North America. For most Pan ...

). In 2020, its population was 121,125. There were 44,982 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.07. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.6% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.3 years. For every 100 females there were 106.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.3 males. The median income for a household in the county was $43,817, and the median income for a family was $51,564. Males had a median income of $37,423 versus $31,913 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $21,048. About 14.3% of families and 17.6% 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 ...

, including 29.4% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Law and government

Comanche County has a

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to fiv ...

comprising three members elected by

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

. Commissioners from each district serve four-year staggered terms in partisan elections. Boundaries are set once every 10 years following the federal

. The Board is responsible for inspecting and approving county programs and facilities, supervise the performance county officials, maintaining the county infrastructure, as well as overseeing the financial affairs of the county. In 2011, the commissioners were District 1 Gail Turner, District 2 Ron Kirby, and District 3 Don Hawthorne. In addition to the county commissioners, other elected county officials include:

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

County Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, Assessor,

County Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keepin ...

, and

Court clerk A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths ...

. At the federal level, Lawton lies in Oklahoma 4th Congressional district, represented by

Tom Cole Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representati ...

. In the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, the county is represented by District 31 (Don Barrington) and 32 (Dusty Deevers). In the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

, District 50 (Dennis Johnson), 62 (T.W. Shannon), 63 (Don Armes), 64 (Ann Coody), 65 (Joe Dorman) covers the county.

Economy

Comanche County's economy is primarily centered on government, manufacturing and retail trade industries. The Lawton MSA has a

Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

of $4.89 Billion in 2010 with half (2.66 Billion) in the Government sector. Private industries accounted for 2.23 Billion in GDP in which Manufacturing (451 Million), Real estate and rental and leasing (305 Million), and Retail Trade (255 Million) were the largest fields. In May 2010, it was estimated there were 41,720 people employed. The largest occupation fields included, the Office and Administrative Support Occupations field which had 6,760 employed, the Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations which employed 4,630, and the Sales and Related Occupations which had 4,150 employed.

Media

'' The Lawton Constitution'' is the only daily newspaper published in the county and has a circulation of 30,000. In addition the Fort Sill newspaper, ''The Cannoneer'', is published weekly primarily for military personnel as well as the newspaper ''The Cameron Collegian'' whose main audience is Cameron University students. Additionally, ''Okie Magazine'' is a monthly magazine that focuses on news and entertainment in the Southwest Oklahoma area. Fletcher News publishes online news of northeastern Comanche County, including Fletcher, Elgin and Sterling. Radio stations in Lawton include, two AM Stations KXCA 1050 and KKRX 1380 as well as several FM stations including, NPR affiliate KCCU 89.3, KZCD 94.1, KMGZ 95.3, KJMZ 97.9, KBZQ 99.5, KLAW 101.3 and KVRW 107.3 Comanche County is located in the Wichita Falls and Lawton Media Market which encompasses 154,450 households with a television, making it the 149th largest in the nation according to Nelson Media Research in 2009–2010. KSWO-TV channel 7, an ABC affiliate, is the only broadcast television station in the area that provides local news. All other major stations including, KFDX-TV 3 (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

), KAUZ-TV ( CBS), and KJTL-TV ( Fox) are based in Wichita Falls.

Transportation

Comanche County is primarily served by

, designated as the H. E. Bailey Turnpike. It connects the county to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

to the northeast and to

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

to the south. The county is also connected by US Highway 62, which connects to the regional towns of Altus to the west and Anadarko to the north. Other major thoroughfares include US Highway 277 and 281, which parallels the H. E. Bailey Turnpike to Wichita Falls to the south and leads to regional towns of Anadarko and Chickasha, respectively, to the north. Several State Highways cross the county including, State Highway 7 which connects Lawton to Duncan. State Highway 17 starts at US Highway 62 and connects the city of Elgin to the town of Sterling and leads to Rush Springs in Grady County. State Highway 36 connects the towns of Chattanooga to Faxon and has its eastern terminus at Interstate 44. State Highway 49 enters the county from Kiowa County and becomes unsigned through the Wichita Wildlife refuge heading east. Leaving the refuge it becomes signed and leads through Medicine Park to its eastern terminus at Interstate 44. State Highway 58 connects to Carnegie in Caddo County to State Highway 49 near Medicine Park. State Highway 115 leads from Mountain View in Kiowa County through Meers to the Wichita Mountain Refuge. There it becomes unsigned as it leads to the south. Exiting the refuge, it becomes signed and leads to its southern terminus north of Cache on US Highway 62. Lawton Area Transit System (LATS) provides public transit locally for Lawton and Fort Sill. LATS main terminal is located near the Lawton Public Library and provides five major routes throughout the city. Intercity transit is provided by

, with buses traveling towards Oklahoma City and Dallas. Formerly,

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

served Lawton up until at least 2016. By air, Comanche County is served by the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW, KLAW). At present, it offers daily American Eagle flights to

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartere ...

and is also used for military transport.

Education

K-12 education

The following K-12 school districts include parts of the county.
Text list
/ref> * Boone-Apache Public Schools * Cache Public Schools * Cement Public Schools * Central High Public Schools * Chattanooga Public Schools * Cyril Public Schools * Elgin Public Schools * Empire Public Schools * Fletcher Public Schools * Geronimo Public Schools * Indiahoma Public Schools * Lawton Public Schools * Mountain View-Gotebo Schools * Snyder Public Schools * Sterling Public Schools * Walters Public Schools Elementary only districts include Bishop Public School and Flower Mound Public School. Residents of the Bishop and Flower Mound districts go to Lawton Public Schools for middle and high school grades. The largest school district is Lawton Public Schools which had 16,398 in 2009. The district operates two pre-kindergarten centers, twenty-six elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools – Eisenhower, Lawton, and MacArthur. Other major school districts in the area include Cache Public Schools and Elgin Public Schools. Cache Public Schools had an enrollment of 1,648 and consists of five schools. Elgin Public Schools had an enrollment of 16,98 and three schools. Other public school districts in the region include, Bishop Chattanooga, Fletcher, Flower Mound, Geronimo, Indiahoma, and Sterling. Comanche County includes several private schools. The largest is Lawton Christian School with an enrollment of 426 students in 2009. Lawton Academy of Arts & Science offers classes from PK-12 and had an enrollment of 115. St. Mary's Catholic School offers classes for elementary and middle school. Trinity Christian Academy offers classes from K-3 through the 8th grade.

Tertiary education

There is one university in Comanche County, Cameron University. Cameron is the largest four year, state-funded

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, in southwest Oklahoma, offering more than 50 degree programs in areas of Business, Education, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology. Founded in 1909, Cameron has an average fall enrollment of 6,000 students with 70 endowed faculty positions. Comanche County is also served by the Great Plains Technology Center, which is part of the

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (ODCTE, commonly known and branded as CareerTech) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. CareerTech oversees a statewide system of Career and technical edu ...

System. Great Plains provides occupational education, training, and development opportunities to area residents.

Healthcare

Comanche County has three major hospitals in the area. The largest, Comanche County Memorial Hospital, is a 283-bed non-profit hospital that employs 250 physicians. Southwestern Medical Center is a 199-bed hospital with a staff of 150 physicians. In addition, the U.S. Public Health Lawton Indian Hospital is located in the city to provide health services for the large American Indian population. It has 26 beds with a staff of 23 physicians.

Communities

Cities

* Cache * Elgin * Lawton (county seat)

Towns

* Faxon * Fletcher *

* Indiahoma * Medicine Park * Sterling

Census-designated places

* Edgewater Park * Lake Ellsworth Addition * Lakeside Village * Lawtonka Acres

Other unincorporated communities

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

* Meers * Pumpkin Center

Notable people

Notable residents include country singers: Bryan White, Kelly Willis, and Leon Russell,

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated jazz trombonist Conrad Herwig, and Flaming Lips drummer

Steven Drozd Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Flaming Lips, Electric Würms, and other projects. Early life Drozd was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Ri ...

. Notable authors include

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winning author

N. Scott Momaday Navarre Scotte Momaday (February 27, 1934–January 24, 2024) was a Kiowa and American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel ''House Made of Dawn'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969 in literature, 1969, and ...

, poet Don Blanding, and

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

winner, C. J. Cherryh. Politicians from Comanche County include: U.S. Senator Thomas Gore, US Representatives:

Scott Ferris Scott Ferris (November 3, 1877 – June 8, 1945) was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma. Early life Ferris was born in Neosho, Missouri to Scott and Annie M. Ferris.

, L. M. Gensman, Toby Morris, and Elmer Thomas. Other politicians include Democratic State Senator Randy Bass and former U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Julian Niemczyk. Other notable residents include: World War II

Code Talker Charles Chibitty, World War II Nurse and POW Col. Rosemary Hogan,

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winning actress

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

, World War II ace Robert S. Johnson, three time NBA champion Stacey King, former NBA All-Star

Michael Ray Richardson Michael Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955), known as Micheal Ray Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies basketball, Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 ov ...

, Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson, infamous University of Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson, NFL Pro Bowlers Will Shields and Jammal Brown Quanah Parker built his final residence in the town of Cache, Comanche County.

References

External links

Comanche County

City of Lawton

Fort Sill Military Reservation

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Comanche County

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{Authority control 1901 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Populated places established in 1901

History

Geography

Adjacent counties

Climate

Demographics

Politics

Law and government

Economy

Media

Transportation

Education

K-12 education

Tertiary education

Healthcare

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Notable people

See also

References

External links