Altus () 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 parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Jackson County,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States.
The population was 18,729 at the
2020 census.
Altus is home to
Altus Air Force Base, the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
training base for
C-17,
KC-46 and
KC-135
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...
aircrews. It is also home to
Western Oklahoma State College and
Southwest Technology Center.
History
The town that would later be named Altus was founded in 1886.
[Altus](_blank)
Oklahoma State University County Extension Service
(accessed May 10, 2010) The community was originally called "Frazer", a settlement of about 50 people on Bitter Creek that served as a trading post on the
Great Western Cattle Trail. Cowboys driving herds northward often stopped to buy
buttermilk
Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mode ...
from John McClearan. Thus, the town was known locally as "Buttermilk Station". The Frazer post office opened February 18, 1886. A
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...
nearly destroyed Frazer on June 4, 1891. The residents moved to higher ground east of the original site. W. R. Baucum suggested renaming the town "Altus", a Latin word meaning "high". This name stuck, although the town was also known as "Leger" from July 10, 1901, to May 14, 1904.
The population doubled between the time of Oklahoma statehood and the 1910 census and even increased during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
.
Although Altus had been designated as the Jackson county seat at the time of statehood, an election was held in 1908 to determine the permanent seat. The two towns contending were Altus and
Olustee. Altus won by a vote of 2,077 to 1,365. The county courthouse was built there in 1910.
An irrigation project in the 1940s and World War II led to further growth in the town as the nearby airfield was used to train military pilots.
In 1908, the
Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway (acquired by 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 largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996.
The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
in 1929) built a line through Altus. Around the same time, the Altus, Wichita Falls and Hollis Railway (which became the
Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway in 1911, then was acquired by the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway in 1922) constructed a line from Altus to the Oklahoma-Texas border. The railroads stimulated economic growth in the area and made Altus a regional agricultural center. By 1930, Altus had eight cotton gins, two cotton compresses, and eighteen wholesale businesses.
Geography
Altus is located in northeastern Jackson County. It is situated in what used to be Old Greer County, an area with disputed ownership until a
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision awarded it to
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 ...
instead of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.
The city lies between the main channel and
North Fork of the
Red River.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city of Altus has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.08%, are water.
Climate
Altus has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'') bordering upon a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
(''BSk''). Summers are very hot to sweltering, though occasionally heavy rainfall does occur due to remains of Gulf of Mexico hurricanes moving inland. A record high of was recorded twice in 1936.
Autumn is brief, with generally very warm afternoons and comfortably cool mornings, while winter is extremely variable.
Chinook wind
Chinook winds, or simply Chinooks, are two types of prevailing warm, generally westerly winds in western North America: Coastal Chinooks and interior Chinooks. The coastal Chinooks are persistent seasonal, wet, southwesterly winds blowing in from ...
s can sometimes raise temperatures to uncomfortably hot even in the low winter sun, in the process often drying out vegetation to produce
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
s. On the other hand, if a
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
forms over the
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...
very cold air can be driven into the Plains States from Canada, producing temperatures below in extreme cases. Such cold temperatures on average occur once every three winters, although on average 78.5 mornings each year fall to or below the freezing point. Snowfall is rare and erratic: the most in a months being in January 1966, while most rainfall comes during the unsettled spring season, when heavy
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
s can occur from the convergence of hot and cold air masses to produce very intense short-period rainfall. The wettest month has been May 1980 with , whilst zero precipitation has on occasion been recorded in every month except May and June, and the wettest 24 hour period on October 20, 1983, with . The wettest calendar year has been 1941 with and the driest 1970 with .
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 19,813 people living in the city.
The population density was . There were 8,890 housing units at an average density of .
The racial makeup of the city was 72.62%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 10.41%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.48%
Native American, 1.38%
Asian, 0.20%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 10.32% from
other races, and 3.59% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 17.25% of the population.
There were 7,896 households, out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,217, and the median income for a family was $38,400. Males had a median income of $28,041 versus $18,856 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $15,378. About 14.6% of families and 17.2% 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 22.7% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
U.S. Routes
62 and
283 cross in the center of Altus. US 62 leads east to
Lawton, and west to
Childress, Texas, while US 283 leads north to
Mangum, and south to
Vernon, Texas.
Altus/Quartz Mountain Regional Airport (KAXS; FAA ID: AXS), 3 miles to the north, has a 5501’ x 75’ paved runway.
Commercial air transportation is available at the
Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport, about 57 miles to the east.
The
Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway
The Wichita, Tillman and Jackson Railway is a shortline railroad subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation that operates in Oklahoma and Texas. The line for which it is named extends from Wichita Falls, Texas to just north of Altus, Okla ...
provides rail freight service.
Points of interest
*
Lake Altus-Lugert, about to the north
*
Great Plains State Park, on
Tom Steed Reservoir, about east-northeast.
* Morgan Doll Museum
*
Altus Air Force Base
Education
The public schools of Altus are in Oklahoma School District number 18. In the Altus Public School District there are nine schools, including five elementary schools, an intermediate school, a junior high school, a high school, and a learning center. For the 2011–2012 school year there were approximately 3,851 students.
Western Oklahoma State College and
Southwest Technology Center provide opportunities for higher education in the area.
Notable people
*
Robert N. Bellah, sociologist of religion
*
Jake Colhouer, American football player
*
Mark Cotney, National Football League (NFL) player (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
*
Herschal Crow, Oklahoma state senator
*
Brandon Dickerson, music video director
*
Eddie Fisher, relief pitcher
*
Suzi Gardner, guitarist for the band
L7
*
Kelly Garrison, 1988 Olympic gymnast (competed as Kelly Garrison-Steves)
*
Jason Gildon, NFL player; all-time sack leader for the Pittsburgh Steelers
*
David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby
*
Steve Marino, professional golfer who currently plays on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
*
Moon Martin
John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Early years
Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, he was originally a rockabilly artist as a member of the Oklahoma-based band The ...
, singer and musician
*
Richard Lee McNair, prisoner
*
Thomas C. Oden,
United Methodist theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
and religious author
*
Juan Pérez, Major League Baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, played at Western Oklahoma State College
*
Samuel M. Sampler, World War I Medal of Honor Recipient
*
Andrelton Simmons, shortstop, Los Angeles Angels, played at Western Oklahoma State College
*
John Sterling, NFL player (Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos)
*
Viva Wright, PhD Canine Studies
*
Rodney Yee, yoga instructor
Gallery
References
External links
City of Altus official websiteWestern Oklahoma State CollegeAltus information, photos and videos on TravelOK.comOfficial travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
{{authority control
Cities in Jackson County, Oklahoma
Cities in Oklahoma
County seats in Oklahoma
Micropolitan areas of Oklahoma