Talala is a town in

Rogers County Rogers County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is ...

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 273 at the 2010 census.

History

The Talala Post Office was established June 23, 1890. Talala was named for Captain John Talala of the 3rd Regiment,

Indian Home Guard The Indian Home Guard was a series of volunteer infantry regiments recruited from the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory to support the Union during the American Civil War. There was also a series of Confederate units of Indian Terr ...

and a prominent Cherokee. It is mentioned in the Talala History Book that the word ta la la is associated with the tapping of a woodpecker's bill, which the woodpecker is a red-headed woodpecker that had these numerous birds there and even today. ''Talala'' is a Cherokee word for the Red-Headed Woodpecker.Jon D. May, "Talala," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed April 27, 2015. An Indian made this discovery and so the town has taken this bird as part of its legacy, erecting signs on the North and South end of the town, and on its stationery at Town Hall and in the Museum.

Museum

On the property of the Museum, which was the original site of the Talala Post Office decades earlier, lies a statue made by the Talala artist Sandra VanZandt of two eagles with bricks surrounding it. In May 2012 three plaques honoring World War II veterans were displayed proudly nearby. Inside and within its walls lies most of the town's history.

Geography

Talala is northwest of Claremore, the county seat. 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.

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 2010, there were 273 people and 81 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 128 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 71.4%

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 ...

, 0.0%

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 ...

, 20.5% Native American, 0.0% Asian, and 8.1% 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 0.7% of the population. There were 109 households, out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% 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, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. Of all households 22.9% were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.85. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 19 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,833, and the median income for a family was $58,250. Males had a median income of $40,833 versus $28,125 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 $17,810. About 5.9% of families and 8.2% 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 10.8% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

Notable residents

Edwin Evers Edwin Dinan Evers (May 9, 1971 in Hardenberg) is a Dutch drummer and radio presenter of the radio station Radio 538. Biography Evers was born on 9 May 1971 in Hardenberg, the Netherlands, his first experience with radio was by the local broadca ...

– professional bass fisherman * Roy W. Harmon - WWII Medal of Honor recipient

History

Museum

Geography

Demographics

Notable residents

References

Further reading