Kiefer is a town in Creek County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,187 at the 2020 census, a 30% increase over the 1,685 population recorded at the 2010 census, which itself was a 64 percent increase over the 1,026 figure 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 ...

History

Kiefer was originally known as "Praper" when a post office was first established in 1901. The St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) constructed a line south from Sapulpa through Praper between 1900 and 1901. The route is today operated by

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

. Praper became an

oil boom An oil boom is a period of large inflow of income as a result of high global oil prices or large oil production in an economy. Generally, this short period initially brings economic benefits, in terms of increased GDP growth, but might later lead ...

town by 1906, when it grew into a major shipping point for crude from the Glenn Pool field. The post office was renamed "Kiefer" on December 12, 1906. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', the name honored at least one of three different people named Kiefer who lived in the area. Kiefer voted to incorporate on November 20, 1908. The 1910 census reported a population of 1,197 inhabitants. This increased to 1,663 in 1920. In the early days, Kiefer was on the route of the Sapulpa & Interurban Railway (“S&I”) streetcar/interurban line connecting to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

through Sapulpa; S&I subsequently went through a series of mergers and name changes, with only the Tulsa-to-Sapulpa portion continuing as the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway. The Kiefer Searchlight was a weekly newspaper published in Kiefer that included local, state, and national news along with advertising. 123 issues from 1908 to 1911 are available online. In the 21st century, Kiefer is mostly a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, with 94.6 percent of workers living in town commuting to jobs elsewhere, primarily in

. However, it is also headquarters for Bridge Crane Specialists, a company involved in the design, manufacturing, installation, and servicing of overhead and work station crane systems. Kiefer is the site of an extensive residence known to locals as the Kiefer Castle, having been built to resemble a fairy-tale castle.

Geography

Kiefer is located in eastern Creek County. U.S. Highway 75A passes through the center of the town, leading north to the center of Sapulpa, 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 south to

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 ...

. Oklahoma State Highway 67 leads east from Kiefer to the

U.S. Route 75 U.S. Route 75 is a north–south U.S. Highway that runs in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is located at the Canadian border near Noyes, Minnesota, at a now-closed border crossing. From this point, the highway ...

freeway in Glenpool. Via Highways 67 and 75 it is north to downtown

. 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 ...

, Kiefer has a total area of , of which , or 1.04%, is water.

Education

Kiefer has an elementary, middle and high school. The school teams are known as the Trojans.

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 1,026 people, 373 households, and 281 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 410 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 85.09%

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 ...

, 0.19%

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 ...

, 9.45% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.58% from other races, and 4.48% 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 3.12% of the population. There were 373 households, out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% 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, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.19. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $34,844, and the median income for a family was $42,500. Males had a median income of $30,739 versus $22,386 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 $14,479. About 7.8% of families and 11.6% 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 13.4% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Kiefer Police Department
{{authority control Towns in Creek County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Muscogee (Creek) Nation Populated places established in 1901 1901 establishments in Indian Territory