Clinton, Oklahoma
| Clinton, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Motto: "Hub City of Western Oklahoma" | |
 Location of Clinton, Oklahoma |
|
| Coordinates: 35°30′34″N 98°58′27″W / 35.50944°N 98.97417°WCoordinates: 35°30′34″N 98°58′27″W / 35.50944°N 98.97417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| Counties | Custer, Washita |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council / Manager |
| Area | |
| • Total | 9.395951 sq mi (24.335402 km2) |
| • Land | 9.377394 sq mi (24.287340 km2) |
| • Water | 0.018557 sq mi (0.048062 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,565 ft (477 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 9,033 |
| • Density | 960/sq mi (370/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 73601 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| FIPS code | 40-15400 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1091467 |
| Website | Clinton, Oklahoma |
Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the 2010 census.
The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E. Blake, decided to locate a town in the Washita River Valley.
Because of governmental stipulations that an Indian could sell no more than one half of a 160-acre (0.6 km2) allotment, the men made plans to purchase 320 acres (1.3 km2) from four different Indians - Hays, Shoe-Boy, Nowahy, and Night Killer - and paid them each $2,000 for 80 acres (320,000 m2) to begin the small settlement of Washita Junction.
Congressional approval for the sale was granted in 1902 and Washita Junction quickly developed. The first businesses were the office of the Custer County Chronicle newspaper and the First National Bank building. When a post office was started, the postal department would not accept the name of Washita Junction; so the town was named for the late Judge Clinton Irwin.
Clinton was served by the Frisco Railroad. It was also the eastern terminus of the Clinton, Oklahoma, and Western Railroad Company, which lay track westward to Hemphill County, Texas. Once in Hemphill County, a second similarly-named railroad, the Clinton-Oklahoma-Western Railroad Company of Texas, joined with Pampa in Gray County, Texas. Both of these companies were soon leased and purchased by the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, which held them until disestablishment in 1965.
Clinton particularly benefited from the presence of U.S. Highway 66. Like most other cities and towns on Route 66, Clinton was home of tourist businesses including several restaurants, cafés, motels and filling stations. The Pop Hicks Restaurant, which opened in 1936 and burned in 1999, was once the longest running restaurant on Route 66. The U.S. Highway 66 Association, founded 1927 in Tulsa, curtailed its activity when World War II rationing of rubber and fuel disrupted leisure travel. After the war, Jack and Gladys Cutberth revived the organization in Clinton, where it promoted the "Main Street of America" from 1947 until it disbanded in the 1980s. The late Dr. Walter S. Mason Jr. operated a Best Western from 1964-2003 which welcomed Elvis Presley as an occasional guest in the 1960s.
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Wikipedia