Kingfisher 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 in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,034. 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 ...

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

. The county was formed in 1890 and named Kingfisher by a vote of residents. The land was given to the

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

by the federal government, but was taken back after 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 ...

History

Limited archaeological surveys may have discovered evidence of pre-contact peoples, including Paleo-Indian and Archaic (6000 BC - 1 AD) groups that used the area for hunting and foraging. The historic Osage,

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

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 ...

tribes traversed the prairie grasslands of this area. Before the county's creation, The Chisholm Trail's many routes crossed the area. A stage road which paralleled the trail had important stops at Dover Station, King Fisher Station and Baker Station. The area was given to the

by the federal government after their forced removal from Georgia. At the end of the

, the Creeks were forced to cede the land back to the federal government for siding with the Confederacy. It became part of the

Unassigned Lands The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883 it was bounded by the Cher ...

, and the area was opened to non-Indian settlement in the land run on April 22, 1889.Oklahoma Territory's First Land Run
(accessed May 15, 2013) Several towns, including

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 ...

developed soon after the land run. Originally this area was called County 5, when the Organic Act of May 2, 1890 created Oklahoma Territory.Everett, Dianna
"Kingfisher County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 4, 2015. At an August 5, 1890 election, the voters of County 5 overwhelmingly voted for the name "Kingfisher" over "Hennessey" and "Harrison". The origin of the name is unclear. The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' mentions three different possibilities. The first is that the name memorialized a local rancher, David King Fisher. The second version is that King and Fisher were two different settlers, whose names were combined for the county and town. The third explanation was that the name was for a rancher named John Fisher and for whom Uncle Johns Creek was named.

Geography

According to the

U.S. 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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. The principal waterway is the Cimarron River, which runs from northwest to east through the county.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 81 * State Highway 3 * State Highway 33 * State Highway 51 * State Highway 132

Adjacent counties

* Garfield County (north) * Logan County (east) *

Canadian County Canadian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,405, making it the fifth most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is El Reno. The county is named for the Canadian ...

(south) * Blaine County (west) * Major County (northwest) *

Oklahoma County Oklahoma County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,633, making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City, the state capital and largest ...

(southeast)

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 inc ...

of 2000, there were 13,926 people, 5,247 households, and 3,893 families residing in the county. 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 RosenberPopu ...

was 15 people per square mile (6/km²). There were 5,879 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.09%

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 ...

, 1.59%

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 ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 3.02% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 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 ...

, 4.34% from other races, and 2.74% from two or more races. 6.90% 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 5,247 households, out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% 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 ...

living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.08. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.20% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,676, and the median income for a family was $43,242. Males had a median income of $30,918 versus $19,819 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 $18,167. About 8.50% of families and 10.80% 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 14.30% of those under age 18 and 6.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities and Towns

* Cashion *

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

* Hennessey *

* Loyal * Okarche

Unincorporated Communities

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whi ...

* Four Counties Corner (formerly Lockridge) *

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

Politics

At the presidential level, Kingfisher County has voted predominantly Republican; the last Democrat to claim the majority of the popular vote was Franklin D. Roosevelt in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Economy

Agriculture has been the mainstay of the county since the area was opened for settlement in 1899. Wheat and rye have been the most important crops. Oil and gas exploration became important to the county economy during the 1920s, especially in that part of the county around Hennessey, Cashion and Dover. Roxana was a boomtown during that period, but quickly declined its population peaked at one thousand people. It is now considered a ghost town.

Education

Kingfisher Academy, affiliated with the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

, was established in Kingfisher well before statehood. It remained open between 1890 and 1894. In 1895, the Association of Congregational Churches of Oklahoma Territory chartered Kingfisher College, and opened it for instruction on September 2, 1895.Carolyn G. Hanneman, "Kingfisher College." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Retrieved March 7, 2015.

NRHP sites

The following sites in Kingfisher County are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

: * Burrus Mills Elevator C, Kingfisher * Dow Grain Company Elevator, Okarche * Farmers and Merchants National Bank, Hennessey * Farmers Co-op Elevator, Hennessey * Kiel-Dover Farmers Elevator, Dover * Kingfisher Armory, Kingfisher *

Kingfisher College Kingfisher College was a college in Kingfisher, Oklahoma from 1895 to 1922. Bringing a College to Kingfisher Founded by the Rev. Joseph Homer Parker, a Congregationalist Minister who had founded many Congregationalist churches in Canada and the No ...

, Kingfisher *

Kingfisher Post Office The Kingfisher Post Office, also known as The Old Post Office, is the historic former post office in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. The post office was built by the Dieter & Wenzil Co. of St. Louis, Missouri; work on the building began on October 1, 191 ...

, Kingfisher * Seay Mansion, Kingfisher