Turpin is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Beaver 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 post office was established April 8, 1925. The population was 442 at the time of the 2020 census.

History

Turpin was named for Carl Julian Turpin, a son of Thomas James Turpin and Elmanda (Kennerly) Turpin. Carl was born on 10 Aug 1871 in Quantico,

Wicomico County, Maryland Wicomico County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Maryland, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 103,588. The county seat is ...

. He died 20 Nov 1942 in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

."Carl J. Turpin, Savings and Loan Official Here, Is Dead," ''

The Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

'', November 20, 1942 Carl J. Turpin was the general manager of the

Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad The Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad (BM&E) extended from Beaver, Oklahoma to Keyes, Oklahoma in the Oklahoma Panhandle, about 105 miles. It was chartered in 1912, and abandoned in 1972. History The BM&E started as an effort by the citizens ...

(BM&E). In 1918, two farmers from Hardtner, Kansas, Jacob Achenbach and Ira B. Blackstock, requested his assistance. Messrs. Achenbach and Blackstock had been asked by farmers in Beaver County and the surrounding areas to build a railroad through the

Panhandle A salient, panhandle, or bootheel is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on three sides. Ins ...

so that their wheat crops could be shipped to outlying markets. Achenbach and Blackstock knew how to build the railroad, but they needed someone to manage it. That is where Carl Julian Turpin came in. Turpin had ample experience as a railroad man, his career beginning in 1888. Described as a "by the book" type of general manager, Turpin was a stern, well-groomed man. He worked without salary, but did receive stock in the line, from 1918 until 1926. At its height, the BM&E ran from

Beaver, Oklahoma Beaver is a town and county seat in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. The community is in the Oklahoma Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the town’s population was 1,280. The city is host to the annual World Cow Chip Throwing Champ ...

through Turpin and

Eva, Oklahoma Eva is an unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located along State Highway 95, approximately two miles north of U.S. Route 412. History The Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad built through Eva by the end ...

and continuing to a connection with the

Santa Fe Railroad 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 variou ...

Keyes, Oklahoma Keyes is a town in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town’s population was 276. History Keyes was established in 1925 by the Elkhart and Santa Fe Railway (both leased to and a wholly owned subsidiary of the ...

. The line connected with the Katy at Forgan and the Rock Island at Hooker. The BM&E was eventually sold to Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (M-K-T or Katy) in 1931."Faith in Oklahoma Reaps Rich Rewards", ''

'', March 7, 1931 "When I was a kid 20 years old, but married, I used to want to work for a railroad which paid $50 a month and furnished its agents a two-story house on the line, rent, brooms, and matches free. Maybe I still could find something like that," Turpin said, after the sale of the BM&E. The railway was eventually abandoned in 1972.

General

Turpin centers around its independent school district. It consists of a multi-building K-12 facility that draws its student body from surrounding farms and the housing communities of Little Ponderosa and Pheasant Run. This in turn means that, while Turpin is smaller than the surrounding communities of

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

, Forgan, Hooker, and Tyrone, it has a comparatively large student body. The school is the largest employer in the community, and the hub for community activities. Turpin comes to life between summers, beginning with football and basketball in the fall and ending with track, softball, and baseball in the spring. Turpin High School is recognized for its athletic success in class A winning championships in football, track, and golf. Notable alumni include former

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

defensive back Lynn Scott, award winning educator Sarah Lynch and author James Stoddard. The podcast, Gone Ramblin, was started by two Turpin alumni that examines life in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The Turpin Grain Elevator was situated on the BM&E’s line, and is now on the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Beaver County, Oklahoma __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Beaver County, Oklahoma. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Beaver County, Oklahoma, Beaver C ...

Demographics

References

External links

Turpin Public SchoolsLynn Scott
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Beaver County, Oklahoma Unincorporated communities in Oklahoma Census-designated places in Beaver County, Oklahoma Census-designated places in Oklahoma Oklahoma Panhandle