Greer County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located along the southwest border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,239. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Mangum. From 1860 to 1896, the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

claimed an area known as Greer County, Texas, which included present-day Greer County along with neighboring areas. In 1896 it was designated as a county in

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 ...

under a ruling by the US Supreme Court. The rural Greer County is home to

Quartz Mountain State Park Quartz Mountain State Park is located in southwest Oklahoma at the western end of the Wichita Mountains, east of Mangum, Oklahoma and north of Altus, Oklahoma. The nearest community is Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, about northeast of the park. It i ...

, near the community of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. It is also home to the Oklahoma State Reformatory, located in

Granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

. Its population has declined since 1930 due to changes in agriculture and migration to cities for work.

History

After a dispute over the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty and the related 1828 Treaty of Limits, the governments of both the United States and the state of Texas claimed ownership of some 1.5 million acres (6,000 km²) in what was then operated as Greer County, Texas. The county was named for former Texas lieutenant governor, John A. Greer.Wilson, Linda D. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Greer County.
Retrieved March 5, 2015. Litigation followed, and in the case of ''United States v. State of Texas'' , with a ruling issued on March 16, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, having original jurisdiction over the case, decided in favor of the United States. The county was assigned to the Oklahoma Territory on May 4, 1896. When Oklahoma was admitted as a state, Greer County was established according to its current boundaries; the remaining former county area was organized as Harmon, Jackson, and part of Beckham counties. The town of Mangum, designated as the county seat in 1886 when this was part of Texas, continued as the seat of Greer County, Oklahoma. From its establishment until at least 1903, Greer County was a

sundown county Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all- white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discrimina ...

, prohibiting African Americans from living in the county. Originally developed for agriculture, the rural county had its peak of population in 1930. Mechanization of agriculture reduced the need for farm labor, and the population has declined as people migrated to cities for work. Among the county attractions is

(known from 2002 to 2020 as Quartz Mountain Nature Park), near the community of Lone Wolf.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water. Western Greer County lies in the Gypsum Hills, while the eastern one-third is in the Red Bed Plains physiographic region. The county is drained by the

North Fork Red River The North Fork Red River, sometimes called simply the "North Fork", is a tributary of the Red River of the South about long, heading along the eastern Caprock Escarpment of the Llano Estacado about southwest of Pampa, Texas.United States Board o ...

, Elm Fork Red River, and Salt Fork Red River.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 283 U.S. Route 283 is a spur of U.S. Route 83. It currently runs for 731 miles (1,175 km) from Brady, Texas at U.S. Route 87 to Lexington, Nebraska at U.S. Route 30. It passes through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Route de ...

* State Highway 6 * State Highway 9 * State Highway 34

Adjacent counties

* Beckham County (north) * Kiowa County (east) * Jackson County (south) * Harmon County (west)

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 2000, there were 6,061 people, 2,237 households, and 1,442 families residing in the county. 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 10 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 2,788 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 81.46%

White White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 8.78%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 2.47% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.02%

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 Ocea ...

, 3.99% from other races, and 3.02% from two or more races. 7.44% of the population were

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 for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 2,237 households, out of which 25.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.50% were non-families. 33.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.00% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 20.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 123.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 129.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $25,793, and the median income for a family was $30,702. Males had a median income of $24,318 versus $18,641 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 county was $14,053. About 15.00% of families and 19.60% 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 28.40% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Economy

The county's economy has been based on farming and raising livestock. In 1907, the main crops were cotton, corn, oats, wheat and alfalfa. Livestock raised includes cattle, horses, mules, swine, sheep and goats. The Oklahoma State Reformatory is located in

in the county and provides some jobs.

Communities

Cities

Mangum (county seat)

Towns

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

Unincorporated communities

Brinkman Brinkman, Brinkmann, Brinckman, and Brinckmann are variations of a German and Dutch surname. It is toponymic surname with the same meaning as the surname Van den Brink: "(man) from the village green".Reed

Notable people

Edward Everett Dale Edward Everett Dale (February 8, 1879 – May 28, 1972) was an American historian and longtime faculty member of the University of Oklahoma. He was a proponent of Frederick Jackson Turner's " frontier thesis" and is known as a major influence o ...

(1879–1972), historian; professor at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

* William T. Ponder (1891–1947), World War I flying ace * Victor E. Wickersham (1906–1988), U.S. politician; member of the U.S. House of Representatives

References

External links

Mangum Main Street

Greer County Chamber of Commerce

Old Greer County Museum & Hall of Fame

Greer County Extension Service

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Greer County

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control 1896 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Populated places established in 1896 Sundown towns in Oklahoma