Broken Bow, Oklahoma | |
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City | |
Broken Bow Municipal Building
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Location of Broken Bow, Oklahoma |
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Coordinates: 34°1′47″N 94°44′16″W / 34.02972°N 94.73778°WCoordinates: 34°1′47″N 94°44′16″W / 34.02972°N 94.73778°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma |
County | McCurtain |
Government | |
• Type | Council-manager |
• Mayor | Jerry Don Smith |
Area | |
• Total | 5.0 sq mi (13.1 km2) |
• Land | 5.0 sq mi (13.0 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
Elevation | 469 ft (143 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 4,120 |
• Density | 824.0/sq mi (317.0/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 74728 |
Area code(s) | 580 Exchange: 584 |
FIPS code | 40-09100 |
GNIS feature ID | 1090514 |
Website | Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce |
Broken Bow is a city in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,120 at the 2010 census. It is named after Broken Bow, Nebraska, the former hometown of the city's founders, the Dierks brothers.
The land that would become Broken Bow was owned by the Choctaw tribe prior to being settled by non-Indians. Growing around a lumber company started by two brothers, Broken Bow had a population of 1,983, just a decade after its incorporation in 1911. The city lies within the Little Dixie region of Oklahoma, an area originally settled largely by Southerners seeking a new start following the American Civil War.
The city was the location of the wounding and capture of murderer Richard Wayne Snell in 1984, following his shootout with local police. Snell had shot and killed two men in Arkansas, a pawn shop owner and Arkansas State Trooper Louis P. Bryant.
Broken Bow is located at 34°1′47″N 94°44′16″W / 34.02972°N 94.73778°W (34.029784, −94.737656).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 square miles (13 km2), of which 5.0 square miles (13.0 km2) is land, and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.40%) is water.
The city of Broken Bow stands in a unique transition zone between the Red River basin and the Ouachita Mountains. While the Ouachita Mountains are sandstone ridges that are considered the roughest land in Oklahoma, the Red River basin is considered fertile. North of Broken Bow is Broken Bow Lake, created by the United States Army Corps of Engineers by damming the Mountain Fork River. The lake's creation forced Hochatown to relocate to its present-day location.