Fort Cobb is a town in
Caddo 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 518 at the
2020 census.
History
Fort Cobb was established as a U.S. Army frontier post in
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
on October 1, 1859, east of the present location of the town. The fort was named after
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Howell Cobb, a friend of the founding
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
,
Major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
William Emory. The post was later occupied by both
Southern and
Northern forces during the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, the Union taking control of the fort as part of the 1862
Tonkawa massacre.
Later, Lieutenant Colonel
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...
's command was encamped at Fort Cobb from December 18, 1868, to January 6, 1869. Shortly after that, on March 12, 1869, the fort was abandoned in favor of a location to the south near the
Wichita Mountains
The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-south ...
, and renamed
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...
.
''Fort Cobb''
, KS-Cyclopedia - 1912
The town of Fort Cobb was founded in 1899, and simply named Cobb, which was renamed Fort Cobb in 1902 to honor the defunct military post. At statehood in 1907, the town had 467 residents. The number had fallen to 382 at the 1910 census, but grew to 546 in 1920. The largest number of residents was 827 in 1930, but the population soon began a decline because of the Great Depression and World War II. In 1940 it was 699, falling to 665 in 1950. It rebounded to 687 in 1960, 722 in 1970 and 760 in 1980. There was another drop to 663 in 1990, followed by a rise to 663 in 1990 and 667 in 2000, before declining again to 634 in 2010 and 518 in 2020.[Savage, Cynthia. "Fort Cobb." ''Encyclopedia of History and Culture''.](_blank)
Accessed March 17, 2019.
Geography
Fort Cobb is located west of the center of Caddo County in the valley of the Washita River
The Washita River () is a river in the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River of the South, Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border.
Geogra ...
. Oklahoma State Highway 9 passes through the town, leading east to Anadarko, 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 ...
, and west to Carnegie.
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 ...
, Fort Cobb has a total area of , of which , or 1.57% of the town's area, is water.
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 ...
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 ...
, 1.20% 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 ...
, 16.04% Native American, 0.45% from other races, and 4.35% 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 5.25% of the population.
There were 270 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 28.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $34,000. Males had a median income of $26,786 versus $18,854 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 $15,085. About 12.5% of families and 17.6% 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 20.6% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
During the first half of the 20th century, the local economy largely depended on agriculture. The town had two grain elevators and three cotton gins by 1930, and depended on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At ...
(Rock Island), whose branch line ran between Chickasha and Magnum.
Construction of Fort Cobb Dam and the adjacent park opened the town to tourism as a major economic force in the second half of the century.
Government
The town has a mayor-council form of government.
Education
* Caddo-Kiowa Technology Center
Media
The ''Fort Cobb News'' has served the town since 1958. Previous newspapers were: ''Caddo County Record,'' the ''Fort Cobb Express'', and the ''Fort Cobb Record''.
Notable people
* Gary Gray, formerly of the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
's Cincinnati Royals
* Reggie Willits, former member of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...
organization
* Wendi Willits (older sibling of Reggie), formerly of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks
The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...
References
External links
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Fort Cobb (town)
{{authority control
Towns in Oklahoma
Towns in Caddo County, Oklahoma
Populated places established in 1899