Colcord, Oklahoma | |
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Town | |
Location of Colcord, Oklahoma |
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Coordinates: 36°15′51″N 94°41′34″W / 36.26417°N 94.69278°WCoordinates: 36°15′51″N 94°41′34″W / 36.26417°N 94.69278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma |
County | Delaware |
Area | |
• Total | 2.44 sq mi (6.33 km2) |
• Land | 2.44 sq mi (6.33 km2) |
• Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 1,148 ft (357 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 815 |
• Density | 333/sq mi (128.7/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 74338 |
Area code(s) | 539/918 |
FIPS code | 40-16100 |
GNIS feature ID | 1091553 |
Colcord is a small farming town in southern Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States. The community lies in the northeastern part of the state in a region known as Green Country. The population was 815 at the 2010 census, a slight decline from 819 at the 2000 census.
Colcord's history starts decades before the establishment of the town itself, with the community of Row, Indian Territory, in the 1890s. As settlers moved to the area, the town of Row grew and businesses formed, including a bank, a school, a hotel, and others. A Post Office was established on May 20, 1905.
In the 1920s, a road (later known as Oklahoma State Highway 116) was built that passed 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the then-healthy town of Row. A rural mail carrier, Charles Burbage, who owned land to the south where the new road was established, platted 64.8 acres (0.262 km2) into blocks, lots and streets. The area grew into a community known as "Little Tulsa" to locals, until residents changed the name in September 1928 to "Colcord," after Charles Francis Colcord. Mr. Colcord was a successful and prominent cattle rancher, oil businessman, and early Oklahoma Territory lawman from Oklahoma City, who owned a large ranch west of the two towns. The ranch employed many local residents, and was very important to the economy and spirit of the area.
Due to better transportation and a disastrous fire that wiped out many buildings in Row, most businesses moved to Colcord, and the new town was approved to build a high school. A feud between the two towns ensued, and in the first eleven years of Colcord's existence, the school was involved in eleven lawsuits.
The community's "Old Settlers Day" on the second Saturday of June each year to honor its heritage and the many people that settled in the area and established the town.