Henryetta, Oklahoma
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Henryetta is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,640 at the 2020 census.


History

Hugh Henry established a ranch on Creek Nation land in 1885. He soon found a deposit of coal, which he began using to fuel the
forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...
at his ranch. Discovery of more coal deposits in the large Henryetta Coal Formation attracted several railroads to develop these mines. A settlement named Furrs grew up around the mines. The name changed to Henryetta when a post office opened on August 28, 1900.Bamburg, Maxine
"Henryetta,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, Accessed July 22, 2015.
At statehood in 1907, Henryetta had 1,051 residents. The economy was based on agriculture, coal, natural gas and oil. In 1909, the area had 14 coal mines, producing 65,000 tons per month. By 1910, the population had grown to 1,671. The town added a broom factory, several brick factories and a bottling plant during the 1920s. By the time of the 36th annual report of the Department of Mines and Minerals in 1943, combined yearly production by Acme Coal Company, Atlas Coal Company, Ben Hurr Coal Company, Starr Coal Company, and Wardin-Pullen Coal Company—all of Henryetta—was over 600,000 tons. Henryetta's manufacturing base continued to expand. Pittsburgh Plate Glass ( PPG) built a
plate glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...
window plant in Henryetta in 1929–30, employing 900 people and claiming to be the largest west of the Mississippi River. The factory closed in 1974, but was purchased and refitted for making glass containers, and continues in operation by Anchor Glass Container. Eagle-Picher placed a massive zinc smelting facility in the Spelter City area of town, which continued through the 1960’s. The company also employed more than 700 people at its plant that extracted the rare metal
germanium Germanium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid or a nonmetal in the carbon group that is chemically ...
. The plant has since closed and become a Superfund cleanup site. Besides Anchor Glass, current employers include the international oilfield-services company Shawcor; Henryetta Pallet, a regional wood pallet manufacturer; and, G&H Decoy, a waterfowl decoy manufacturer since 1934. On May 1, 2023, seven people were killed in a
mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...
in Henryetta, allegedly by Jesse McFadden, found as one of the deceased.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.66%) is water.


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 2000, there were 6,096 people, 2,460 households, and 1,589 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,844 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 79.69%
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 ...
, 0.57%
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 ...
, 12.30% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02%
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 ...
, 0.79% from other races, and 6.30% from two or more races.
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 were 2.20% of the population. There were 2,460 households, out of which 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $20,115, and the median income for a family was $24,760. Males had a median income of $28,661 versus $14,268 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 city was $11,908. About 19.9% of families and 22.8% 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 29.8% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.


Arts and culture


Events

Henryetta has two large annual rodeos, being the Jim Shoulders Spring Roundup Rodeo in June and the Living Legends Rodeo over Labor Day Weekend.


Historic locations

The Henryetta Historical Museum is housed in what was the town's first schoolhouse, and later what was the town's first courthouse. The Henryetta Golf Course and Country Club was established in the 1920s. Hugh Henry House, and Nichols Park, are included on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma.


Parks and recreation

South of Henryetta is Nichols Park, developed between 1938 and 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, which is over 300 acres in size, and includes the 17 acre Nichols Lake. The park hosts many outdoor activities such as disc golf, baseball, all-terrain vehicle off-road trails, hiking trails, several playgrounds, multiple covered shelters for picnicking, primitive campsites, and large open fields for events. Jim Hall Lake, also known as Lake Henryetta, is 450 surface acres southeast of town. Amenities include boat ramps, docks, primitive campsites, picnic areas, and outdoor grills. Lake Henryetta is the town's source of public drinking water.


Government

Henryetta has a council-manager form of government with an elected mayor.


Media

Both the Henryetta Free-Lance and TheHenryettan.com offer news services to the community.


Infrastructure


Transportation

Henryetta is at the crossroads of
Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...
, being a major east–west interstate highway through the south-central portion of the United States, and U.S. Route 75, being a major north–south highway currently extending from Noyes, Minnesota on the
Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...
south to
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. Henryetta is also served by US Route 266 and Oklahoma State Highway 124. Henryetta Municipal Airport (FAA ID: F10), owned by the City of Henryetta, is located about 3 miles southwest and offers a 3501 x 50 ft. (1067 x 15 m) paved runway. Commercial air transportation is available out of
Tulsa International Airport Tulsa International Airport is a civil-military airport five miles (8 km) northeast of Downtown Tulsa, in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named Tulsa Municipal Airport when the city acquired it in 1929 ...
, about 60 miles to the north. Henryetta is served by the KI BOIS Area Transit System ("KATS"), a low-cost public bus/van service established in 1983 to help communities, primarily in southeast Oklahoma, by providing access to Senior Citizen centers, groceries, medical services, and jobs. Their service includes transportation to Okmulgee and Tulsa.


Notable people

*
Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he play ...
: NFL Hall of Fame
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
*
Alice Ghostley Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was an American actress and singer on stage, film and television. Ghostley was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–72) on '' Bewitched'', as Cousin Alice ...
: actress ('' Bewitched'', '' Grease'', ''
Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS between September 29, 1986 and May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomas ...
''), * Mark Ryal: former Major League baseball player. *
Jim Shoulders James A. Shoulders (May 13, 1928 – June 20, 2007) was an American professional rodeo cowboy and rancher. He is commemorated at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, ProRodeo Hall of Fame. At the time of his death, he was one of the most successful cont ...
:
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
favorite * Steven W. Taylor: Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice


References


External links


Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Henryetta
{{authority control Cities in Oklahoma Cities in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tulsa metropolitan area