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 ...
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. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,039. It was named after the Buffalo Creek valley, in which it is located.
History
In 1907, the town was "staked out" and a post office was established with the name Buffalo, which was derived from nearby ''Buffalo Creek''. In 1908, a county seat election gave the seat to Buffalo and the town was incorporated in the same year.Bamburg, Maxine. "Buffalo," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Buffalo's founders issued instructions for all buildings to be built of stone, thereby many of those structures survived the test of time.
When citizens of Harper County decided to link their county seat with the railroads, they created the Buffalo and Northwestern Railroad, which arrived in Buffalo in May 1920. However, that trackage was abandoned in 1982, and Buffalo currently has no rail service.
Geography
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 ...
, Buffalo has a total area of , all land. The city lies in the northwestern corner of Oklahoma at the Panhandle's eastern entrance, along U.S. routes 64/
183
Year 183 ( CLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 936 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, south of the
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
state line. It is northeast of the
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 ...
state line and northwest of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
.
Doby Springs Park and Campgrounds, located about 11 miles west, includes a fishing lake, camping sites, a playground, and nature trails along rolling canyons. The complex also has a PGA-rated 9-hole golf course.
Climate
While not the snowiest location in Oklahoma ranked by highest annual average snowfall, Buffalo has the distinction of holding the State snowfall record over 24 hours, being 23” which fell February 21, 1971.
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 2000, there were 1,200 people, 495 households, and 336 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 599 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.92%
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 ...
, 0.08%
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 ...
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 10.33% of the population.
There were 495 households, out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% 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, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 22.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $30,433, and the median income for a family was $38,333. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $20,515 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 $15,328. About 8.2% of families and 11.7% 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 18.1% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Buffalo School District oversees primary and secondary education.
Media
The Buffalo Weekly News was established in 2014 and is published every Wednesday.
The Harper County Journal, consolidated from the Buffalo Republican and the Harper County Democrat, was published in Buffalo from 1903 to 2014, when it merged with the Laverne Leader Tribune to become the Harper County Leader, still published weekly in
Laverne, Oklahoma
Laverne is a town in Harper County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,223 at the 2020 census.
History
Laverne's origin is traced to John Mollman's homestead, which he established in 1903. The site was then in Woodward County, Oklah ...
.
Other early newspapers included the Buffalo News, the Buffalo Bugle, and the Post.
Transportation
U.S. Route 64
U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,281 miles (3,672 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route ...
and
U.S. Route 183
U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersection ...
Page Soddy
The Page Soddy, in Harper County, Oklahoma southeast of Buffalo, Oklahoma, is a sod house built in 1902. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places said of it:
It is located abo ...