Oklaunion is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Wilbarger County Wilbarger County ( ) is a county located in the North Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,887. The county seat is Vernon. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1881. Wilbarg ...

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 ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had an estimated population of 138 in 2000.

Geography

Oklaunion is located at . It is situated at the junction of U.S. Highways 70,

183 Year 183 ( CLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 936 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, and

283 Year 283 ( CCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carus and Carinus (or, less frequently, year 1036 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 283 for this y ...

in northeastern Wilbarger County, approximately nine miles east of Vernon. The nearest large city is

Wichita Falls 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 statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to ...

, located 42 miles east of Oklaunion.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

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 ...

system, Oklaunion has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

History

Originally known as Mayflower, the community was renamed Oklaunion around 1888 by Joseph S. "Buckskin" Works. The reason behind the name change was an attempt to attract the Frisco line to the community so that it would connect with the

Fort Worth and Denver City Railway The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic developmen ...

. Nearby Vernon was chosen as the site for the linkage, however, but Oklaunion prospered as a stop on the Fort Worth and Denver City line. A post office was established in 1889 and a school opened during the mid-1890s. The community voted to incorporate on June 6, 1928. In 1930, the town had a population of 254. That figure fell to 223 in 1940 and 129 by 1950. Sometime after, the town dissolved its incorporation. The population had fallen to fewer than 140 in 1990 and remained at that level by 2000. Although Oklaunion is unincorporated, it has a post office with the zip code of 76373.

Demographics

Oklaunion first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2020 U.S. Census.

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 88 people, 43 households, and 43 families residing in the CDP.

Power supply facilities

Near Oklaunion, there is a

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

, named Oklaunion Power Plant. It has a capacity of 650 megawatts. Since 1984 there has been a back-to-back HVDC station at Oklaunion which was built by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

. It works with a voltage of 345 kV and has a transfer rate of 220 megawatts. The plant was scheduled to be shut down in September 2020. The reason was high cost to keep the emissions at levels acceptable. The plant was bid on and won by Frontier Energy. They will convert the plant to natural gas, a cleaner burning fossil fuel.

Education

Public education in the community of Oklaunion is provided by the Vernon Independent School District. The Oklaunion Independent School District consolidated with Vernon in 1967.Climate Summary for Oklaunion, Texas
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References

External links

* * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Wilbarger County, Texas Energy in Texas Former cities in Texas