Ada 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 st ...

of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was incorporated in 1901. Ada is home to

East Central University East Central University (ECU or East Central) is a public university in Ada, Oklahoma. It is part of Oklahoma's Regional University System. Beyond its flagship campus in Ada, the university has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, and Duran ...

, and is the headquarters of the

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation (Chickasaw: Chikashsha I̠yaakni) is a federally recognized Native American tribe, with its headquarters located in Ada, Oklahoma in the United States. They are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, original ...

. Ada is an Oklahoma Main Street City, an Oklahoma Certified City, and a

Tree City USA The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...

member.

History

In the late 1880s, the Daggs family (by way of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

) became the first white family to settle what is now known as Ada, which was formerly known as Daggs Prairie. In April 1889, Jeff Reed (a Texan and relative of the Daggs family) was appointed to carry the mail from Stonewall to Center (which was later combined with Pickett), two small communities in then Indian Territory. With his family and his stock, he sought a place for a home on a prairie midway between the two points, where he constructed a log house and started Reed's Store. Other settlers soon built homes nearby. In 1891, a post office was established and named after Reed's oldest daughter, Ada.City of Ada, OK
(accessed February 23, 2007). Ada incorporated as a city in 1901 and grew rapidly with the arrival of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway line. Within a decade the

Santa Fe Railroad 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 ...

and the Oklahoma Central Railway also served the town. Ada was originally a

sundown town 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 discriminator ...

, where African Americans were not allowed to live. In the 1900s, the town was opened up to African Americans so that black witnesses could stay while testifying in district court. Despite a violent episode in 1904, the town remained open to African Americans to provide labor for a local cotton compress. In 1909, the women of Ada organized an effort to build a

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

in their city. It resulted in the founding of East Central College (now

). On April 19, 1909, an organized mob hanged four men, among whom was American outlaw Deacon Jim Miller, who was set to be tried for the murder of a former U.S. marshal and member of the local freemason lodge."Ada, Oklahoma Lynching, 1909"
a
Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
(accessed April 1, 2010) The town had a population of about 5,000 at the time, and 38 murders a year at the time of the lynching. The '' Daily Ardmoreite'' reported that the four lynched men were "one of the bloodiest band of murderers in the state of Oklahoma and an organization of professional assassins, that for a record of blood crimes, probably has no equal in the annals of criminal history in the entire southwest". The first manufacturing company in Ada, the Portland Cement Company, installed the first

cement clinker 200px, Typical clinker nodules 200px, Hot clinker Cement clinker is a solid material produced in the manufacture of Portland cement as an intermediary product. Clinker occurs as lumps or nodules, usually to in diameter. It is produced by sinte ...

in Oklahoma in 1910. American Glass Casket Company began manufacturing glass caskets in 1916, but the business failed. Hazel Atlas Glass bought the plant in 1928 and produced glass products until 1991.

National Register of Historic Places

The following sites in Ada are listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma: * Ada Public Library * Bebee Field Round House * East Central State Normal School * F.W. Meaders House * Mijo Camp Industrial District * Pontotoc County Courthouse * Sugg Clinic * Wintersmith Park Historic District

Culture

* McSwain Theatre, opened in 1920

Geography

Ada is located in the rolling hills of southeastern Oklahoma. Ada is from

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, from

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, and from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. 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 t ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.44%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

, there were 16,481 people, 6,611 households, and 3,552 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010

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 ...

, Ada's 16,810 residents consisted of 6,697 households and 3,803 families. 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 999.3 people per square mile (385.9/km). The 7,862 housing units were dispersed at an average density of 475.9 per square mile (183.8/km). Ada's 2006 racial makeup was 73.81%

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 o ...

, 3.54%

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 ...

, 15.10% Native American, 0.83%

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 ...

, 0.01%

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 O ...

, 0.89% 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 5.81% from two or more races.

Hispanics 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 forme ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

of any race were 2.89% of the population. Of Ada's 6,697 households, 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. The 15.8% of those 65 years or older living alone made up a substantial portion of the 37.1% single-person households. Average household size was 2.20 persons; average family size was 2.91. The age breakdown in 2006 was 22.3% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% aged 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females aged 18 or over, there were 84.5 males, while for all ages, there were 100 females for every 88.4 males. Median household income was $22,977, while median family income was $31,805. Males had a median income of $25,223 versus $17,688 for females. Ada's

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 ...

was $14,666. Some 14.8% of families and 21.4% 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 27.8% of those under 18 and 11.4% of those 65 or over. An estimated 2,000-3,000 residents speak the

Chickasaw language The Chickasaw language (, ) is a Native American language of the Muskogean family. It is agglutinative and follows the word order pattern of subject–object–verb (SOV). The language is closely related to, though perhaps not entirely mutual ...

Economy

The economy of Ada is diversified. In the mid and late 20th century, the town was a manufacturing center, producing products such as

Wrangler jeans Wrangler is an American manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items, particularly workwear. The brand is owned by Kontoor Brands Inc., which also owns Lee. Its headquarters is in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States, wit ...

, auto parts, cement and concrete, plasticware, and other products. Since the start of the 21st century, manufacturers have made major investments in expansions and new technology. In 1975, the Chickasaw Nation opened its headquarters in Ada.Floyd, Billie Fathree and Alberta Johnson Blackburn
"Ada".
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture''. Retrieved 2009-10-7. Revenues for the Nation were over 12 billion dollars in 2011, most of which is funneled through Ada. The Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center, a large water research lab staffed by the Environmental Protection Agency, opened in 1966.

LegalShield LegalShield (previously known as Pre-Paid Legal Services or simply Pre-Paid Legal) is an American corporation that sells legal service products direct to consumer through employer groups and through multi-level marketing in the United States, an ...

, a

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

provider of pre-paid legal services, is headquartered in the city. Oil and natural gas remain a part of the regional economy. The largest employers in the region are: *Ada City Schools *Chickasaw Nation *East Central University * iQor (call center for Sprint) *Pontotoc County Technology Center *

Dart Container Dart Container Corporation of Mason, Michigan, United States, is the world's largest manufacturer of foam cups and containers, producing about as many as all competitors combined. Dart Container is privately held by the Dart family. In May 201 ...

(formerly

Solo Cup Solo Cup Company is an American manufacturer of disposable consumer products including beverage cups, disposable plates, and bowls. Solo Cup Company is located in Lake Forest, Illinois, and in 2006 had sales of $2.4 billion. On May 4, 2012, So ...

) *Flex-N-Gate (auto parts manufacturer) *Holcim Inc. (Portland cement) *

*Power Lift Foundation Repair *State of Oklahoma *

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

*Kerr Lab *Mercy Hospital Ada *City of Ada

Education

Higher education

, located in Ada, is a public four-year institution that has been in operation since 1909. ECU serves roughly 4,500 students is known internationally for its

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

program, as only a few such programs exist. ECU is also home to an Environmental Health Science Program, one of only 30 programs nationally accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council (EHAC).

Primary and secondary

Ada Public Schools has six primary and secondary schools. * Glenwood Early Childhood Center * Hayes Grade Center * Washington Grade Center * Willard Grade Center * Ada Junior High School * Ada High School Latta Public Schools has one high school in Ada:

Latta High School Latta High School is a high school located in Ada, Oklahoma. It is the only high school in the Latta School District. 39% of the student body is economically disadvantaged. Latta High placed in the top 5% of Oklahoma high schools for overall test ...

Technical school

Pontotoc Technology Center 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 technology e ...

(formerly Pontotoc Area Vo-Tech) is located in Ada.

Infrastructure

Highways

Major highways are: *

Oklahoma State Highway 3 State Highway 3, also abbreviated as SH-3 or OK-3, is a highway maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Traveling diagonally through Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the far southeastern corner of the state, SH-3 is the longest state highway i ...

* U.S. Route 377

Rail

Rail Freight is serviced by

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

and a Union Pacific shoreline.

Air

The Ada Regional Airport (FAA Identifier: ADH), owned and operated by the City of Ada, is located two miles north of downtown, and is home to two major aeronautical industries—General Aviation Modifications, Inc. and Tornado Alley Turbo. From the early 1950s well into the 1960s, the airport was served by

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 opera ...

Notable people

Bill Anoatubby Bill Anoatubby (born November 8, 1945) is the Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, a position he has held since 1987. From 1979 to 1987, Anoatubby served two terms as Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation in the administration of Governor Overto ...

– Governor of the Chickasaw Nation since 1987 * Vaughn Ary – Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps * Nick Blackburn – former Minnesota Twins starting pitcher *

Harry Brecheen Harry David Brecheen (, , October 14, 1914 – January 17, 2004), nicknamed "The Cat", was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the late 1940s he was among the team ...

– former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

All Star pitcher; graduated from Ada High School; buried at Ada's Rosedale Cemetery * Orel Busby, attorney, lived in Ada from 1912 until appointed Associate Justice of Oklahoma Supreme Court; returned to Ada after retiring from the court in 1937''Miami Daily News''. August 8, 1937. Accessed September 9, 2019.
/ref> * Jeff Carpenter, musician and songwriter with the all Native American orchestral rock band Injunuity *

Dan Cody :''Dan Cody is also the name of a character in the novel The Great Gatsby''. Daniel Price Cody (born December 1, 1981) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He ...

–

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

; born in Ada * Johnson T. Crawford – Nuremberg trial judge * John Daversa –

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning jazz trumpeter, composer/arranger, bandleader, and educator * Denver Davison – attorney, lived in Ada from 1927 until appointed Associate Justice of Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1937; returned to Ada after retiring from the court in 1958 * Taylor "Tae" Dye – member of country duo

Maddie and Tae Maddie & Tae are an American female country music duo composed of Maddie Font (née Marlow) and Tae Kerr (née Dye), both of whom are singers, songwriters, and guitarists. The duo was signed to the revived Dot Records in 2014. Their debut album, ...

Douglas Edwards Douglas Edwards (July 14, 1917 – October 13, 1990) was an American radio and television newscaster and correspondent who worked for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for more than four decades. After six years on CBS Radio in the 1940s ...

– first television network anchor * Josh Fields – former

infielder; born in Ada *

Mark Gastineau Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is an American former football player who was a defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generatio ...

–

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

star, ECU graduate * Monte Hale – Western-genre film star; born in Ada *

Johny Hendricks Johny Harvey Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler. He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Welterwe ...

–

UFC Welterweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

* Anthony Armstrong Jones – country music singer * David West Keirsey (1921–2013) – psychologist, developed the

Keirsey Temperament Sorter The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) is a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves and others. It was first introduced in the book '' Please Understand Me''. It is one of the most widely used pers ...

; born in Ada *

Robert S. Kerr Robert Samuel Kerr (September 11, 1896 – January 1, 1963) was an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th governor of Oklahoma from 1943 to 1947 and ...

– former Oklahoma Governor and long-time U.S. Senator; born in Ada * Don Owen – Louisiana news anchor and politician, worked in radio in Ada early in his career * Louise S. Robbins – Wisconsin Librarian of the Year (2001); named one of Oklahoma's 100 Library Legends; director of the School of Library and Information Studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of two award-winning books; longtime resident of Ada and first woman city council member and mayor *

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...

– evangelist, founder of Oral Roberts University; born near Ada. * Blaine Saunders – actress, '' The Middle'' *

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

– country music singer with multiple No. 1 hit songs, coach on ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' *

Jeremy Shockey Jeremy Charles Shockey (born August 18, 1980) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at the University of Miami and was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. The winner of the fir ...

– former NFL tight end; born and grew up in Ada * Leon Polk Smith – abstract artist known for his work with geometric painting; graduate of East Central University *

Jerry Walker Jerry Allen Walker (born February 12, 1939) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Athletics, and Cleveland Indians between 1957 and 1964. Born in Ada, ...

– major league pitcher and front office executive *

Ron Williamson Ronald Keith Williamson (February 3, 1953 – December 4, 2004) was a former minor league baseball catcher/pitcher who was one of two men wrongly convicted in 1988 in Oklahoma for the rape and murder of Debra Sue "Debbie" Carter. His former friend ...

– minor league baseball player wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1988 in Ada for rape and murder but eventually exonerated. Subject of '' The Innocent Man'' by

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Ame ...

In popular culture

Because of its short, palindromic spelling with frequently used letters, Ada is a very common crossword puzzle answer. Associated clues often include "Oklahoma city", "Oklahoma palindrome", and "Sooner State city."

Controversies

In 1987, journalist Robert Mayer published '' The Dreams of Ada'' exploring major flaws, irregularities, forced confessions, and possible miscarriages of justice in Ada in the convictions of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot for the rape and murder of Denice Haraway, who died in 1984. In 2006,

brought Ada into the national spotlight in his nonfiction work, The Innocent Man, relating a similar story in the convictions of

and Dennis Fritz for the murder of Debra Sue Carter. After twelve years on death row, DNA evidence proved the men's innocence and established the guilt of the prosecution's main witness. Similar problems surrounded the trials of the two men convicted for the murder of Denice Haraway. Prosecutor Bill Peterson has self-published his disagreements with Grisham's version of events.Grisham's Folly
(accessed November 13, 2008). In 2018, Grisham's book was adapted into a Netflix series, also named The Innocent Man, combining and extending the cases outlined in his and Mayer's books.

References

External links

City website

Ada Jobs Foundation website

Community website

Ada photos on Flickr (unofficial)

Oklahoma Main Street Community program
*http://www.adachamber.com/

{{Authority control Cities in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma Cities in Oklahoma County seats in Oklahoma Micropolitan areas of Oklahoma Seats of government of American Indian reservations 1891 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Sundown towns in Oklahoma