Fairfax is a town in

Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County () is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with t ...

, United States. The Osage Nation reservation is coterminous with the county. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census, down 11.3 percent from the figure of 1,555 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 ...

. It was the home of the ballerinas Maria and Marjorie Tallchief.Carol E. Irons, "Fairfax," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed October 3, 2011.

History

When the Santa Fe Railway chose to go up Salt Creek valley and bypassed the village of

Gray Horse A gray horse (or grey horse) has a coat color characterized by progressive depigmentation of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike some equine dilution genes and some other genes that lead to dep ...

(which continues to exist today as the home of one of the Osage tribe's three major historic bands) the present day town of Fairfax was created. Local merchants, including Lew A. Wismeyer, moved buildings from Gray Horse and leased acres for a townsite. Wismeyer rejected the name Coda proposed by the railroad and convinced them to call the depot Fairfax after a hotel he had stayed at in Washington, D.C. The Osage tribe retained title to the townsite until March 3, 1905, when Congress provided for the land to be sold at public auction, with the proceeds credited to the tribe. Fairfax had 470 residents at the time of statehood in 1907. Fairfax is also the site of the majority of the Osage Indian Murders that took place in the 1920s in Osage County, Oklahoma. The murders occurred following the discovery of oil on the Osage Nation Reservation (coterminous with the county). At least 24 Osages were murdered in a plot masterminded by William Hale.

Geography

Fairfax is southwest of Pawhuska and southeast of Ponca City. 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.

Climate

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 1,555 people, 657 households, and 417 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 831 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 67.65%

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 ...

, 1.35%

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 ...

, 24.12% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 6.24% 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 1.48% of the population. There were 657 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% 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, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,652, and the median income for a family was $25,385. Males had a median income of $26,518 versus $21,250 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. About 23.9% of families and 28.0% 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 38.8% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The town economy has relied on agriculture and oil production. The population of Fairfax reached a high of 2,327 at the 1940 census, but began to decline as the production of oil dropped in the area, and farm populations decreased with increased mechanization. It fell to 1,869 by 1970, briefly rose to 1,949 in 1980, dropped again to 1,555 in 2000 and yet again to 1,380 in 2010 .

Education

The area is served by Woodland Public Schools, formed in 1990 when the Fairfax school district merged with the Ralston district.

Notable people

Maria Tallchief Maria Tallchief, born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief ( "Two-Standards"; Osage language, Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013), was an Osage Tribe, Osage and American ballerina. She was America's first major p ...

, professional ballerina * Marjorie Tallchief, professional ballerina * Larry Coker, high school and college football coach

In popular culture

David Grann wrote '' Killers of the Flower Moon,'' a book about the Osage Indian murders and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

’s involvement in solving them. Portions of the movie based on the book were filmed here.

References

External links

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Fairfax
{{authority control Towns in Osage County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Populated places within the Osage Nation reservation Populated places established in 1903 1903 establishments in Oklahoma Territory