Armstrong is a town in Bryan 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, along the Blue River. The population was 105 at the 2010 census, a 25.2 percent decrease from the figure of 141 recorded in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. The town was named for Frank C. Armstrong, a member of the

Dawes Commission The American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tribal title ...

.O'Dell, Larry
"Armstrong,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 15, 2015.

History

The town of Armstrong began along the route of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy) in 1872. At the time of Armstrong's founding it was located in Blue County of the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

. The town had a post office in 1882–3, but thereafter the mail was sent to

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

. In 1896, another post office opened in Armstrong, but it was closed in 1920. The post office was located in the only grocery store, and the store owner was also the postmaster. In 1911, the population was 41."History of the Towns and Cities of Bryan County, Oklahoma."
Genealogy Trails. 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014. The Oklahoma Office of the Game Warden (now the Department of Wildlife Conservation) established a fish hatchery in the town about 1916. Otherwise the town survived economically by serving small farms in the area and catering to the needs of sport fishermen who were attracted to the Blue River and nearby Lake Texoma, By 1980, the town had 133 residents. The population dropped to 122 in 1990, then rose to 141 in 2000. It dropped again, and was 105 in 2010.

Geography

Armstrong is located north of Durant. 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 town has a total area of , all land.

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 105 people living in the town. The population density was . There were 60 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 70.21%

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 ...

, 0.71%

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 ...

, 21.99% Native American, and 7.09% from two or more races. There were 54 households, out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% 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, 3.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 2.8% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,292, and the median income for a family was $30,556. Males had a median income of $20,833 versus $18,125 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 town was $12,765. There were 5.6% of families and 16.2% of the population living 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 none under 18 and 25.0% of those over 64.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Armstrong
{{authority control Towns in Bryan County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma