Payne County is located in the U.S. state of

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 77,350. 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 ...

is Stillwater. The county was created in 1890 as part of

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as t ...

and is named for Capt. David L. Payne, a leader of the " Boomers".''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. "Origin of County Names in Oklahoma." v. 2, N, 1. March 1924. Retrieved May 26, 201

Payne County comprises the Stillwater, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county lies northeast of the

Oklahoma City metropolitan area The Oklahoma City metropolitan area is an urban region in the Southern United States. It is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Oklahoma and contains the state capital and principal city, Oklahoma City. It is often known as the Okla ...

although some consider it an extension of the Oklahoma City metro area due to commuter patterns and other indicators.

History

This county was established and named as the Sixth County by the Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890. It included land settled during the Land Run of 1889. The Organic Act settled a dispute between the towns of Stillwater and Perkins over which should be the county seat.Newsom, D. Earl
"Payne County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 4, 2015. Eastern Oklahoma Railway built two lines in Payne County between 1900 and 1902, then immediately leased them to 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 ...

. The historic civil townships of the county were abolished by 1930. One north–south line ran between Pawnee, Stillwater, Ripley and Cushing before joining another north–south line that from Newark to Shawnee. Another line was built from Guthrie along the Cimarron River to Ripley. These lines were important in getting crops from farm to market. In 2010, the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline (Phase II) was constructed into Payne County.

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 (1.8%) is water. Payne County is covered by rolling plains, mostly within the Sandstone Hills physiographic region, but with the western part of the county in the

Red Bed plains Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

. The county has two significant reservoirs: Lake McMurtry and Lake Carl Blackwell. The Cimarron River and Stillwater Creek drain most of the county.

Major highways

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican borde ...

* U.S. Highway 177 * U.S. Highway 412 * State Highway 18 * State Highway 33 * State Highway 51 * State Highway 86 * State Highway 99 * State Highway 108

Airports

* KSWO - Stillwater Regional Airport, Commercial service to

Dallas 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 ...

via

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

* KCUH - Cushing Municipal Airport

Adjacent counties

* Noble County (northwest) * Pawnee County (northeast) *

Creek County Creek County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 69,967. Its county seat is Sapulpa. Creek County is part of the Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area. History European explorers ...

(east) * Lincoln County (south) * Logan County (southwest)

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 68,190 people, 26,680 households, and 15,314 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 99 people per square mile (38/km²). There were 29,326 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile (16/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.33%

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 ...

, 3.63%

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 ...

, 4.58% Native American, 3.00% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 0.77% from other races, and 3.64% from two or more races. 2.15% 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 26,680 households, out of which 25.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.60% 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, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.60% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90. In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.60% under the age of 18, 25.90% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 17.60% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,733, and the median income for a family was $40,823. Males had a median income of $31,132 versus $21,113 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 $15,983. About 10.80% of families and 20.30% 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 16.00% of those under age 18 and 8.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Payne County is very conservative for a county dominated by a college town. While many such counties swung hard to the Democrats in the 1990s, Payne County has gone Republican in every election since 1968 and all but twice since 1944. Since 1968,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

are the only Democrats to cross the 40 percent mark.

Economy

Agriculture was the basis of the county economy for more than fifty years. The primary crops were cotton, corn and wheat. World War II caused hundreds of students at Oklahoma A & M to leave school for military service. To offset this loss to the local economy, civic and college leaders lobbied military officials and Oklahoma Senator Mike Monroney to have the school designated as a war training center. This resulted in the establishment of twelve training programs for the Navy, with nearly 40,000 people. The wartime experience showed local political leaders that it would be essential to diversify the county's economic base. They formed an Industrial Foundation to attract manufacturing plants and industrial jobs. This effort succeeded and accelerated an increase in population.

Education

Educational entities located in Payne County include: *

Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education 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 ed ...

* Oklahoma State University-Stillwater *

Northern Oklahoma College Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) is a public community college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, with additional campuses located in Enid, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,700. NOC bought the former Phillips Universi ...

Communities

Cities

* Cushing * Drumright (mainly in

) * Perkins * Stillwater (county seat) *

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Towns

* Glencoe * Mulhall (mainly in Logan County) * Orlando (partly in Logan County) *

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Al ...

Census-designated places

* Ingalls * Mehan * Quay (partly in Pawnee County)

Other unincorporated communities

* Oak Grove * Vinco * Yost Lake

NRHP sites

The following sites in Payne 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 ...

: Other landmarks include: * Allen Williamson Bridge - Memorial bridge near

, named after the Oklahoma Representative Allen Williamson.

References

External links

Payne County Government's website

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control 1890 establishments in Oklahoma Territory Populated places established in 1890 Oklahoma City metropolitan area