Murray 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 southern part of 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 13,904. 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 ...

Sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

. The county was named for William H. Murray, a member and president of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and later a Governor of Oklahoma.Turner, Alvin O
"Murray County,"
''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. Accessed April 4, 2015.

History

The area now occupied by Murray County was part of the land granted to the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding t ...

by the

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

in 1820. The Chickasaw received part of the land under the Treaty of Doaksville in 1838. The area became part of the

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation () is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, in ...

in 1855. There was an extended conflict before the U.S. Civil War between the Plains Indians and the newly arrived Choctaws and Chickasaws. The U.S. Army built Fort Towson (1824); Fort Washita (1842) and Fort Arbuckle (1851) to protect the Chickasaws. After the conflict between the tribes was settled, various bands of outlaws moved in and continued to create law enforcement problems. Sulphur began developing in the 1880s around the springs for which it was named. The springs encouraged the building of bathhouses and spas. Several were established by the time that a post office was established in 1898. The Sulphur Springs Railway (acquired by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway in 1907) arrived there in 1902, and the 1904 establishment of Platt National Park, with headquarters at Sulphur, spurred the expansion of services for health-seekers. Other visitors were drawn to the park and to nearby Turner Falls, making Sulphur one of the state's earliest recreational centers. Until statehood, the area of the present-day county was a part of

Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation Pickens County was a political subdivision of the Chickasaw Nation in the Indian Territory from 1855, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state in 1907. The county was one of four that comprised the Chickasaw Nation. Following statehood, its ter ...

. Murray County was created when the Chickasaw Nation was disestablished immediately before Oklahoma statehood. Sulphur was declared as the county seat.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. It is the third-smallest county in Oklahoma by land area and second-smallest by total area. The county's northern section lies in the Sandstone Hills physiographic region and is suitable for farming, while the southern portion is in the

Arbuckle Mountains The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient mountain range in south-central Oklahoma in the United States. They lie in Murray County, Oklahoma, Murray, Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc, and Johnston County, Oklahoma, ...

region, which is dominated by rolling hills and rock outcrops. 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 ...

drains the county. Chickasaw National Recreation Area (CNRA) lies in the county. Lake of the Arbuckles, part of CNRA, was completed on Rock Creek in 1966.

Major highways

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...

* U.S. Highway 77 * U.S. Highway 177 * Chickasaw Turnpike * State Highway 1 * State Highway 7 * State Highway 110

Protected areas

* Turner Falls State Park * Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Adjacent counties

* Pontotoc County (northeast) * Johnston County (southeast) * Carter County (southwest) * Garvin County (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 12,623 people, 5,003 households, and 3,587 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 6,479 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 80.76%

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 ...

, 1.90%

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 ...

, 11.57% Native American, 0.32% 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 ...

, 1.16% from other races, and 4.26% from two or more races. 3.15% 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. There were 5,003 households, out of which 30.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.70% 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, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.92. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.20% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,294, and the median income for a family was $37,303. Males had a median income of $28,381 versus $19,727 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 $16,084. About 11.10% of families and 14.10% 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 16.90% of those under age 18 and 15.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Economy

Farming and ranching were the basis of the economy during the time when the area was part of the

. The area was called "the Prairie of Eden" because its plentiful grasslands attracted abundant game, Chickasaw ranchers Noah Lael and Perry Froman operated and headquartered near Sulphur by 1881. Settlements of farmers and businesses expanded through the decade, spurred by the construction of rail lines by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

lines through to Dougherty and Davis in 1886–87. Post offices were established at Dougherty in 1887 and Davis in 1890. Cattle ranching, the other primary industry, continued into the twenty-first century, and Murray County has long been recognized as the center of "Hereford Heaven." Notable ranching operations included those of Oklahoma Gov. Roy J. Turner. On New Year's Eve, 1947, the Flying L Ranch near Davis was the site for the marriage of

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

, "King of the Cowboys," and

Dale Evans Dale Evans Rogers (born Frances Octavia Smith; October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was the second wife of singing cowboy film star Roy Rogers. Early life and career Dale Evans was born ...

. The location of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf at Sulphur in 1907, and a veterans center added to the region's economy. Limestone quarries were also significant. The most important example of this activity began in the 1890s at Big Canyon, home to operations of the Dolese Brothers, whose company became a major state employer.

Communities

Cities

* Davis *

(county seat)

Towns

* Dougherty *

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

Unincorporated communities

Joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...

* Oak Grove

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Davis Public Schools * Elmore City-Pernell Schools * Mill Creek Public Schools *

Roff Public Schools Roff may refer to: Computing *roff (software), a 1970s typesetting markup language Places in the United States * Roff, Kentucky * Roff, Oklahoma People * Derek Roff (born 1949), Canadian biologist * Don Roff (born 1966), American writer and film ...

Sulphur Public Schools Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form ...

* Wynnewood Public Schools Oklahoma School for the Deaf is in Sulphur.

References

{{coord, 34.49, -97.07, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-OK_source:UScensus1990 1907 establishments in Oklahoma Populated places established in 1907