Woodward is a city in and the

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 ...

of Woodward County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, United States. It is the largest city in a nine-county area. The population was 11,975 at the United States Census. The area was historically occupied by the

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a 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 Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...

tribes. European-American settlers established the town in 1887 after construction of the railroad to that point for shipping cattle to markets. The town was on the

Great Western Cattle Trail The Great Western Cattle Trail was used during the late 19th century for movement of cattle and horses to markets in eastern and northern states. It is also known as the Western Trail, Fort Griffin Trail, Dodge City Trail, Northern Trail and Texa ...

. In the 19th century, it was one of the most important depots in the Oklahoma Territory for shipping cattle to the East. As an important cattle town, it had the rough frontier bawdiness of the time. The United States opened up much of the area to European-American settlement by the

Land Run of 1893 Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

, and migrants rushed into the area.

Boiling Springs State Park Boiling Springs State Park is a park built northeast of Woodward, Oklahoma, USA. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. History The park originated in the 1930s and was named for its springs.indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

inhabited the areas along the

North Canadian River The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering North ...

. The Plains tribes adopted use of the horse from the Spanish settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries, which greatly increased their range of nomadic hunting. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, the historic Plains tribes of the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

, and

occupied this area. Boiling Springs, near present-day Woodward, was a favorite campsite of the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of ...

. A battle between the Kiowa and Cheyenne tribes took place nearby in 1838. The Kiowa and Comanche tribes also battled the United States Army in 1868 in this area, when the US redeployed troops after the Civil War against Native Americans in the West.Architectural survey of Woodward, p. 124 In the late 19th century, these tribes fought numerous battles against the United States soldiers and settlers through a wide area around the springs. After the war, United States Army made various expeditions against the Plains tribes in the

Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a 60-mile-wide (97 km) parcel of land south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border between 96 and 100°W. The Cherokee Outlet wa ...

. Lieutenant Colonels

Alfred Sully Alfred Sully (May 22, 1820 – April 27, 1879), was a military officer during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars on the frontier. He was also a noted painter. Biography Sully was the son of the portrait painter, Thomas Sull ...

and

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

, and General

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close a ...

, stationed nearby at Fort Supply, led these expeditions. In the 1880s, the Comanche considered this area as part of their ''"

Comancheria The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...

"'', the unofficial name of their territory, which stretched from

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Settlement as a town

In April 1887, the Southern Kansas Railway, a subsidiary of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

, built tracks from

Kiowa, Kansas Kiowa is a city in Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 902. It is located 1 mile north of the Kansas / Oklahoma state border. History 19th century Kiowa was founded in 1872. It was na ...

to Fort Reno Military Road near the south bank of the

. European-American settlers established Woodward at this junction. The source of the name of the town a mystery. People perhaps named the town for Brinton W. Woodward, usually identified as a Santa Fe Railway director, or bison hunter, teamster, and eventually local saddle-maker Richard "Uncle Dick" Woodward. The town quickly developed as an important shipping point, both for provisioning Fort Supply and as a place for loading cattle grazed in the

for shipment to eastern markets. Woodward ranked among the most important depots in the Oklahoma Territory for shipping cattle to the Eastern and Northern states. The

met the railroad where Woodward developed. In the summer of 1893, carpenters erected the first government building at the railroad depot, called Woodward. Woodward then had 200 residents. On September 16, 1893, officials opened the

across northern Oklahoma, which more than 50,000 migrants settled in the greatest land run in American history. A surveying error then caused location of the government town, its land office, and other public buildings in the section west of the existing improvements, 15 blocks away from the depot, post office, and stockyards. Since territorial days, Woodward served as the county seat of Woodward County. Two towns developed: East Woodward, called Denver, began near the improvements, and Woodward began near the land office. In October 1894, people moved the depot west and relocated it between 5th Street and 6th Street; East Woodward businesses followed the depot. Government in time moved the land office, jail, and other buildings east toward the depot. The towns merged into one. The joining resulted in the curve in the long Main Street of the town at 8th Street, originally Boundary Street. On March 13, 1894, outlaws

Bill Doolin Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

and Bill Dalton robbed the railroad station at Woodward, taking an undisclosed amount of money. Like

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

, to the North, Woodward boasted a cattle town array of saloons, gambling halls, and brothels. Drovers widely knew the Equity, Midway, Shamrock, and Cabinet saloons of Woodward and the Dew Drop Inn as their watering holes at the end of a cattle drive. Dollie Kezer worked at some of most famous brothels of

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

Horace Tabor Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

threw lavish parties that she attended before coming to Woodward, where she owned and managed the Dew Drop Inn, which served as another watering hole and also as a brothel. In 1894,

Temple Lea Houston Temple Lea Houston (August 12, 1860 – August 15, 1905) was an American attorney and politician who served from 1885 to 1889 in the Texas State Senate. He was the last-born child of Margaret Lea Houston and Sam Houston, the first elected pre ...

, former Texas state senator and son of

Samuel Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

, moved his law practice and family to Woodward. After a personal disagreement in the Cabinet Saloon with the brother and father of the outlaw

Al Jennings Alphonso J. "Al" Jennings (November 25, 1863 – December 26, 1961) was an attorney in Oklahoma Territory who at one time robbed trains. He later became a silent film star and made many appearances in films as an actor and technical adviser. ...

, Houston shot and killed the brother. Jack E. Love joined his close friend, Temple Lea Houston, in the gunfight. The events slowed the career of neither man. Authorities in Woodward charged and tried Houston for murder, but a jury acquitted him on grounds of self-defense. Houston won a reputation as a brilliant trial lawyer, known for his courtroom dramatics. He delivered his " Soiled Dove Plea" in a makeshift courtroom in the Woodward opera house, arguing on behalf of a prostitute who worked at the Dew Drop Inn; after ten minutes' consideration, the jury acquitted her. Houston died in 1905 in Woodward and is buried there. People later elected Jack E. Love to the

Oklahoma Corporation Commission The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the public utilities commission of the U.S state of Oklahoma run by three statewide elected commissioners. Authorized to employ more than 400 employees, it regulates oil and gas drilling, utilities and teleph ...

, and he served as its first chairman. Woodward ranked as one of the most extensive cattle shipping points in Oklahoma Territory. Some men rode for the large cattle outfits of the 1890s and later developed rodeo as a sport. Cow ponies, tied to hitching posts, lined the sandy Main Street. When open range ended in 1901, however, homesteaders rushed into Woodward County. By late 1902 farmers' wagons filled with corn, cotton, or sorghum crops for market had already replaced the cow ponies. On September 7, 1907,

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

spoke to 20,000 people gathered in Woodward, urging the ratification of proposed state constitution of Oklahoma and the election of a Democratic Party ticket. Two months later, President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

signed the act of Congress proclaiming admission of Oklahoma as a state, using a quill from an American

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird ...

captured near Woodward. At that time the population of Woodward exceeded 2,000.

County seat and cattle town

An Act of Congress in 1911 designated Woodward a court town for the

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...

for the Western District of Oklahoma. The

Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway The Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway, its affiliate the Northwestern Railway Company of Texas, and two subsidiaries collectively constructed a railway running from Wichita Falls, Texas through Altus, Oklahoma to Forgan, Oklahoma, with a bra ...

constructed a rail line through Woodward County and Woodward in 1911/1912; the

Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railway was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive ra ...

later acquired this line. People introduced successfully

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...

in Woodward County. With this development, cattlemen, such as

William Thomas Waggoner William Thomas Waggoner (August 31, 1852 – December 11, 1934) was an American rancher, oilman, banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist from Texas. He was the owner of the Waggoner Ranch, where he found oil in 1903. He was the founding President o ...

, attempted to lease school lands in Woodward County for grazing. These attempts led Woodward County ranchers to form the Oklahoma Livestock Association. At the urging of United States Senator Thomas Pryor Gore and David P. Marum, the former law partner of Temple Lea Houston, in 1912 the United States government located an agricultural research station in Woodward. With the dairy cows replacing beef cattle and progress measured in the number of plow-broken acres, the United States Department of Agriculture established the Great Plains Field Station, immediately southwest of town, in 1913. Wagons of farmers with other crops gave way to wheat as the cash crop before 1914. People constructed

Woodward Federal Courthouse and Post Office The Woodward Federal Courthouse and Post Office in Woodward, Oklahoma is a Renaissance Revival-style building that was built in 1921. Also known as Woodward Public Schools Administration Building it historically served as a post office and as a ...

in Woodward in 1918, and it opened in 1921. Federal court held dockets annually each November in Woodward. The '' Woodward News'' began as the local newspaper in 1926. Some of the men who rode for the large cattle outfits three decades earlier organized the Elks Rodeo, which began in 1929 at an arena north of town. The ranching and cattle industries still dominated economy of Woodward. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, local

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

projects included the damming of an artesian well, a failed oil-well venture, to form Crystal Beach Lake and its adjacent park. This facility served as a playground for trade area of Woodward and home for the Elks Rodeo. Town leaders certainly prevented fencing of the market drives away from the stockyards in the early years. On 23 February 1933, the Woodward Livestock Auction, the first commercial-grade cattle auction in Oklahoma, opened, keeping the cattle-marketing tradition. On 13 September 1934,

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

and

Anne Morrow Lindbergh Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights. Raised in Englewood, New Jerse ...

made an unexpected emergency landing northeast of Woodward. They spent two days at a rural farm, waiting for a relief plane to arrive at Woodward. Charles Lindbergh refused to give any interviews but said that he and his wife, eager for privacy, no longer wanted the public spotlight.

Economic boom

From 1934, ''Trego’s Westwear'' manufactured western cut clothing for customers all over the world. The company frequently made costumes for rodeo stars, movie stars,

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. Early life Evans was born Frances Octavia Smith on ...

, and

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

. Early in 1956, Charles Woodward Pappe, an entrepreneur from

Kingfisher, Oklahoma Kingfisher is a city in and the county seat of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma,. The population was 4,903 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the former home and namesake of Kingfisher College. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History ...

, met Troy Smith (businessman) while visiting friends in Shawnee, Oklahoma. On May 18, 1956, Pappe opened his second ''Top-Hat Drive-In Restaurant'' in Woodward. Pappe inspired Smith to found

Sonic Drive-In Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized as SONIC), or "The Drive-In," is an American drive-in fast food restaurant Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's and Buf ...

, which eventually became one of the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the United States. In late November 1956, people first discovered natural gas in Woodward County at McCormick Number One well; a two-decade boom of oil and gas production ensued. Main Street and Oklahoma Avenue stretched westward into the "Oil Patch." On January 14, 1957,

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and ...

accompanied President

Dwight David Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

in a inspection tour of drought-damaged lands around Woodward. A crowd of 12,000 received him at Woodward Municipal Airport. One of the largest deposits of iodine in the world underlies many portions of Woodward County. Since 1977, numerous companies explored and produced this crude iodine. These companies include Woodward Iodine and Deepwater Chemicals, located in Woodward. As beef cattle again dominated the land and with the new goal of reestablishing grassy pastures, in 1978, United States Department of Agriculture renamed its facility the Southern Plains Range Research Station. The population exceeded 10,000 in the 1970s. Good times brought a new high school, a vocational-technical school, a new post office, a new hospital, and an industrial park. The economic decline in the oil industry during the 1980s caused the first population decrease in the history of the city. National Register of Historic Places listings in Woodward County, Oklahoma, in 1988 added Woodward Crystal Beach Park.

Tornadoes

1947

On April 9, 1947, the deadliest

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 ...

in Oklahoman history (an F5 on the Fujita Scale) tore through Woodward, killing 107 people, injuring almost 1000, and destroying 100 city blocks. The family of tornadoes, known as the

1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes The 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes were a series of related tornadoes spawned by a single supercell that swept through the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its ...

, ranked as the sixth deadliest in US history. They caused many fatalities and much damage in other communities in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

2012

On April 14, 2012, an EF3 tornado struck Woodward causing six deaths.

Geography

Woodward is located in northwestern

, on the eastern edge of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Its geographic coordinates are (36.433059, -99.397745) and its elevation is 1,906 feet (581 meters). The city lies on the

, east-southeast of Guymon and west of Enid. As the largest city in an area of nine counties, it is a commercial hub in northwestern Oklahoma. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), 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 Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.53%) is water.

Climate

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 incl ...

of 2000, there were 11,853 people, 4,787 households, and 3,245 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 903.5 inhabitants per square mile (348.8/km). There were 5,561 housing units at an average density of 423.9 per square mile (163.7/km). The racial makeup of the city was 91.98%

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 on ...

, 0.25%

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 ...

, 1.96% Native American, 0.67%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 3.26% 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 1.86% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...

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 6.06% of the population. There were 4,787 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% 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, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,441, and the median income for a family was $39,766. Males had a median income of $29,222 versus $19,102 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 $17,040. About 9.2% of families and 13.3% 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 14.5% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Woodward is served by US Route 412,

US Route 270 U.S. Route 270 (US 270) is a spur of U.S. Route 70, US 70. It travels for from Liberal, Kansas at U.S. Route 54, US 54 and U.S. Route 83, US 83 to White Hall, Arkansas at Interstate 530 (I-530) and U.S. Route 65, US&nbs ...

, State Highway 34, and State Highway 15. The West Woodward Airport (KWWR; FAA ID: WWR), located approximately 2.5 miles west of Woodward, features a paved 5502’ x 100’ runway. The airport had commercial air service through

Central Airlines Central Airlines was a passenger airline (the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) called it a "local service" air carrier) in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas from 1949 to 1967. It was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to oper ...

in the 1950s.

Economy

The city maintains a city manager commission type of government. Woodward is the principal center of trade for Northwest Oklahoma and a ten-county region including counties in Kansas and Texas. It serves a trade area of greater than 50,000 people. Agriculture, petroleum, wind energy, and manufacturing all contribute to Woodward's economy. Woodward serves as a market and processing center for wheat, cattle, hay and poultry. The city has grown around th
Southern Plains Range Research Station
a United States agricultural experiment station established in 1912. Woodward also lies in an oil and natural-gas area on the shelf of Oklahoma's

Anadarko Basin The Anadarko Basin is a geologic depositional and structural basin centered in the western part of the state of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, and extending into southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado. The basin covers an area of . By ...

. In 1956, natural gas was discovered in Woodward County. Thereafter, Woodward enjoyed significant growth due to the opening and location of oil field service and drilling companies in Woodward. In addition to hydrocarbons, many portions of Woodward County are underlain by one of the world's largest deposits of

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

. Since 1977, numerous companies have explored for and produced crude iodine in Woodward County. Woodward Iodine and Deepwater Chemicals are located in Woodward. In 2003, Florida Power & Light Company's subsidiary, FPL Energy, and the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, began commercial production of electricity generated from

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s constructed seven miles (11 km) north of Woodward. Manufacturers include oil field equipment, apparel, crude iodine, and printing and publishing. Clothing factories are a relatively recent addition. CF Industries operates an ammonia facility that also produces associated nitrogen products. The plant was built by Fluor for WR Grace and Co, which operated it from 1975 to 1988 as Oklahoma Nitrogen Co. Terra Industries bought the plant from Grace in 1988. In 2010, CF Industries took over Terra, and currently operates the plant. Woodward is the corporate headquarters for Beaver Express Service, L.L.C., Oklahoma's largest and oldest Oklahoma-based small package express and LTL motor freight carrier. Beaver Express serves the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri, and Texas.

Agriculture

By the early 20th century,

were introduced successfully in Woodward County. With this development, cattlemen such as Dan Waggoner and his son, W.T. Waggoner, attempted to lease school lands in Woodward County for grazing. These attempts led to the formation of the Oklahoma Livestock Association by Woodward County ranchers. At the urging of Senator

Thomas P. Gore Thomas Pryor Gore (December 10, 1870March 16, 1949) was an American politician who served as one of the first two United States senators from Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1931 to 1937. He first entered politics as an activist for ...

and David P. Marum, the former law partner of Temple Lea Houston, in 1912 the United States government located an agricultural research station in Woodward. By 1930, the ranching and cattle industry dominated Woodward's economy. On February 23, 1933, Oklahoma's first commercial-grade cattle auction, the Woodward Livestock Auction, opened in Woodward. In 1929, Woodward ranchers and businessmen organized the Woodward Elks Rodeo, which through 1959 was one of the premier cowboy

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 va ...

s in the nation. As many as 35,000 people would attend the three-day event. National rodeo champions such as Bob Crosby, Paul Carney, Toots Mansfield, Homer Pettigrew, Ace Soward, Eddie Curtis, Jess Goodspeed, Ike Rude, Jim Shoulder, Sonny Davis, Sonny Linger, and Tater Decker all competed at the Woodward Elks Rodeo.

Businesses

Between 1934 and 1999, the Trego's Westwear Company of Woodward manufactured Western cut clothing for customers all over the world. Rodeo and movie stars were customers of the company and costumes were frequently made for

and

. As dress became more casual in the 1980s and 1990s, interest in Western wear waned. Trego's closed its manufacturing plant in 1995. On May 18, 1956, Charles Woodward Pappe, an entrepreneur from Kingfisher, opened the second Top-Hat Drive-In Restaurant in the United States, which was the precursor to the

. A few months earlier, Pappe had met Troy Smith, while visiting friends in

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma Cit ...

. With Pappe's inspiration, Sonic was founded and eventually became one of the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the US.

Education

Woodward has an early childhood center, three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.Woodward School DistrictEducation.com
(accessed June 9, 2010). The Woodward school district serves more than 2,500 students. The city also has a private school, the Woodward Christian Academy, that serves more than 100 students. The city's

High Plains Technology Center Technology Centers, in Oklahoma, are Career and Technical schools which provide career and technology education for high school students in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The students generally spend part of each day in their respective schools pur ...

offers courses and degrees in career and technical education. Woodward is also home to the Woodward campus of Northwestern Oklahoma State University, which offers courses and degrees to the local population. The City of Woodward-owned Woodward Public Library has seen a recent complete remodel under management of Head Librarian Connie Terry. It is a fairly large facility for a city of 12,000 population and has a complete computer internet center.

Attractions

The City-owned Crystal Beach Water Park features a swimming pool, play fountains, water slides, and a picnic area. Woodward Crystal Beach Park is on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Woodward County, Oklahoma. The Woodward Sports Complex includes the newly renovated baseball stadium Fuller Park, and five Little League baseball fields. Woodward has two golf courses, Boiling Springs and Crystal Beach Municipal Golf Course, and seven miles of the beautiful Goetzinger Walking trails. Experiment Lake is stocked for fishing seasonally. The Conference Center, across the street from Experiment Lake, is a 33,000 square foot venue for hosting vendor booths, lectures, and other presentations. The Woodward Arts & Theatre Council puts on concerts, theater performances, events and receptions in the historic Woodward Arts Theatre originally opened in 1929. The theater is NRHP-listed. The Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum includes murals in The Rotunda, re-creations of pioneer businesses and offices in The Myrtle Foster Room, the Lee-Lienemann Log Cabin from the late 1800s, and many other exhibits. The

was completed in 1921 in Renaissance Revival style, and is NRHP-listed. L. L. Stine House, the 1916 home of early banker L. L. Stine, is NRHP-listed.

Boiling Springs State Park Boiling Springs State Park is a park built northeast of Woodward, Oklahoma, USA. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. History The park originated in the 1930s and was named for its springs.Fort Supply Lake Fort Supply Lake is in Woodward County, Oklahoma, about south of Fort Supply and northwest of Woodward. Managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lake surface covers . There are about of public hunting land managed by the Corps of Engin ...

, the adjacent Fort Supply Wildlife Management Area, and the Cooper Wildlife Management Area, are to the northwest.

Media

The '' Woodward News'' has been the local news source since 1926. It is currently distributed five days a week and owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., It is distributed freely to the town's residents. * KWOX 101.1 (K101) Country; has been serving Woodward since December 1983. * KMZE Z92 92.1 News/Talk; owned by FM92 Broadcasters * KWFX 100.1 Country; Owned by Classic Communications *

KWDQ KWDQ (102.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station airing an active rock radio format, format licensed to Woodward, Oklahoma. The station is owned by Classic Communications, Inc.KSIW KSIW is a radio station airing a sports format licensed to Woodward, Oklahoma Woodward is a city in and the county seat of Woodward County, Oklahoma, Woodward County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the largest city in a nine-county area. The p ...

AM 1450 "Sports Animal" Sports Talk; has been serving Woodward way back into the 1950s * KAZY 95.9 - NPR Public Radio; owned by Cameron University in Lawton OFF AIR * KJOV 90.7 - Simulcast of KJIL 99.1 (

Meade, Kansas Meade is a city in and the county seat of Meade County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,505. History Meade was both laid out and incorporated in 1885. It was named for Gen. George Meade. Geograp ...

) (Christian Radio) * KZZW 104.5 - "104.5 KZZW" Top 40 * KCSC 95.9 - Repeater of KUCO 90.1 (

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

) (Classical) * KLSI 107.3 - Classic Hits Owned by Classic Commmincations Translators: * 89.9 Simulcast from KHYM (Meade, Kansas) "Southern Gospel" * 97.1 KREJ 100.7

Medicine Lodge, Kansas Medicine Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,781. History 19th century The particular medicine lodge, mystery house or sacred tabernacle from ...

(Christian Talk/Teaching)

Notable people

Jerry Covington Jerry Covington is a custom motorcycle builder and owner of Covingtons Customs. Background Jerry started building custom motorcycles (chopper (motorcycle), choppers) in the early seventies and founded Covingtons Customs in Woodward, Oklahoma ...

, fabricator of high-end custom motorcycles, and owner of Covingtons Cycle City, based in Woodward. * Bob Fenimore, football player. *

, last-born child of

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

, a member of the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

from 1885 to 1889. *

Gary Lakes Gary Lakes (born September 26, 1950) is an American opera heldentenor. Lakes was born in Woodward, Oklahoma, and raised in Irving, Texas. He made his professional debut with the Seattle Opera in the role of Froh in 1981 in Richard Wagner, Wagn ...

, opera singer *

Dick Thompson Morgan Dick Thompson Morgan (December 6, 1853 – July 4, 1920) was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma. Early life and education Born at Prairie Creek, Indiana, a few miles southwest of Terre Haute, Indiana, Morgan attended the country schools ...

, United States Congressman, 2nd District, Oklahoma 1909–15, 8th District, Oklahoma 1915–20. *

Terry Peach Terry Peach (March 18, 1950 - January 20, 2022) was an American farmer and politician from Oklahoma. Peach previously served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture under Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry from 2003 to 2011. Peach served concurre ...

, farmer, rancher, Secretary and Commissioner of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture (2003-2011), Oklahoma State Executive Director, United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (1993–2000) *

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, prominent comedian, was employed when young as a cowboy at a ranch near Woodward. * Charles Swindall, United States Congressman, Oklahoma; Justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1929–1934. *

Olin E. Teague Olin Earl "Tiger" Teague (April 6, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was a World War II veteran and congressional representative for Texas's 6th congressional district for 32 years, from 1946 to 1978. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Bi ...

, military hero and long-term Texas Congressman, was born in Woodward on April 6, 1910.

References

External links

City of Woodward

Woodward Information, Lodging, Tourism Bureau

Woodward Chamber of Commerce

1947 Woodward Tornado (NWS)

Woodward Industrial Foundation

The Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum
{{authority control Cities in Oklahoma Cities in Woodward County, Oklahoma County seats in Oklahoma Micropolitan areas of Oklahoma

Settlement as a town

County seat and cattle town

Economic boom

Tornadoes

1947

2012

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Transportation

Economy

Agriculture

Businesses

Education

Attractions

Media

Notable people

References

Further reading

External links