Creek County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,754. Its

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 ...

is Sapulpa. Creek County is part of the

Tulsa Metropolitan Area The Tulsa metropolitan area, officially defined as the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, metropolitan statistical area is a metropolis in northeastern Oklahoma centered around the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa and encompassing Tulsa County, O ...

History

European explorers traveled through this area early in the 19th century, after the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

. In 1825, the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

ceded the territory where the Federal Government planned to resettle the

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

and other tribes after their expulsion from the Southeastern part of the United States. The Creeks began migrating into this area, where they and many black families settled to begin farming and raising cattle. In 1835, Federal soldiers under Captain J. L. Dawson built the Dawson Road, following an old Osage hunting trail.Linda D. Wilson, "Creek County." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
/ref> Railroads gave an important boost to the local economy. In 1886, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad built a line from Red Fork to Sapulpa. In 1898, the St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railway Company (later the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway), connected Sapulpa and Oklahoma City. The present Creek County was established at the time of statehood, with a population of 18,365. The town of Sapulpa was initially designated as the county seat. This decision was challenged by supporters of the town of Bristow. An election held August 12, 1908, to choose a permanent seat was won by Sapulpa, but the dispute did not end there. After a series of court cases, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sapulpa on August 1, 1913. After oil was discovered at Glenn Pool in adjacent Tulsa County in 1905, other strikes occurred in Creek County. The Cushing-Drumright Oil Field opened in 1912, creating boom towns Drumright, Kiefer and Oilton. By 1920, the county population had increased to 62,480.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. It is drained by the Cimarron River, and the Deep Fork and Little Deep Fork of the

North Canadian River The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering Nor ...

. Heyburn Lake is contained within the county. Keystone Lake is partially within Creek County.

Major highways

* * * * * * * *

Adjacent counties

* Pawnee County (north) * Tulsa County (east) * Okmulgee County (southeast) * Okfuskee County (south) * Lincoln County (west) *

Payne County Payne County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 81,646. Its county seat is Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. The county was created in ...

(northwest)

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 67,367 people, 25,289 households, and 19,017 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 27,986 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.27%

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 ...

, 2.56%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 9.08% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.63% from other races, and 5.16% from two or more races; 1.90% of the population were

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. As of the 2020 census, its population increased to 71,754. As of 2000, there were 25,289 households, out of which 34.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% 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, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were non-families. 21.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.06. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.40% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males. As of 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $33,168, and the median income for a family was $38,470. Males had a median income of $31,190 versus $21,690 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 county was $16,191. About 8% of families and 13.50% 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 17.20% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over. By 2021 census estimates, its median household income was $56,384.

Politics

Political culture

Communities

Cities

* Bristow * Drumright (partly in

) * Mannford * Oilton * Sapulpa (county seat) (partly in Tulsa County)

Towns

* Depew * Kellyville * Kiefer * Lawrence Creek *

Mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * Moun ...

Shamrock A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of the Irish word and simply means "young clover". At most times'', Shamrock'' refers to either the species ...

* Slick

Census-designated place

* Oakhurst (partly in Tulsa County)

Other unincorporated communities

* Bowden *

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

* Hilton * Milfay *

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

* Silver City

Townships

Creek County historically had civil townships. These civil township boundaries (and their names) were still used by the United States Census for counting purposes up to and including the 1960 census.

NRHP sites

References

External links

www.creekcountyonline.com
The official county government website
www.creekcountysheriff.com
The official website for the Creek County Sheriff's Office
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Creek County

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Tulsa metropolitan area 1907 establishments in Oklahoma Populated places established in 1907