Disney, Oklahoma
| Disney, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Location of Disney, Oklahoma |
|
| Coordinates: 36°28′39″N 95°1′13″W / 36.47750°N 95.02028°WCoordinates: 36°28′39″N 95°1′13″W / 36.47750°N 95.02028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Mayes |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.4 sq mi (3.7 km2) |
| • Land | 1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.4 km2) |
| Elevation | 817 ft (249 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 311 |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 74340 |
| Area code(s) | 539/918 |
| FIPS code | 40-20900 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1092095 |
Disney is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 311 at the 2010 census. Despite its name, it is in no affiliation with the Walt Disney Company or Walt Disney himself.
Disney is also known as "Disney Island" because it sits on an island at the southern shore of Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. Oklahoma State Highway 28 is the only road into and out of Disney. To get into Disney from the west, one must drive across the 1-mile long Pensacola Dam. To continue out of Disney, two more small dams with spillway gates must be crossed. The northern part of Disney is lake-front, the southern part boundaried by a wide stream. The spillways from the two small dams join this stream.
Disney has a herd of "island deer" that, while wild and not kept in an enclosure, act more like dogs, strolling across main street (HwY 28) and nibbling on lawns, shrubs, and flowers.
Today there is a convenience store, a bait shop, a post office, two drive-ins, and a sporting goods / lake apparel store in the historic "Dam Hotel" building. There are also offices for construction firms, a gift shop, two churches, and a church camp facility.
When the dam was built in the early 30s, Disney was a different place—hundreds of workers, bosses, engineers, truck drivers, and all the services a large workforce would require were based in and near Disney. The Rogers Cabins motel is the former "superintendents" quarters. About 10 WPA era rock cabins, remodeled as motel rooms, are available. It is one of the few, if not the only, hotels / B&Bs, etc. on the southeast part of the lake. In the October 1938 issue of Scribner's magazine, famed artist Thomas Hart Benton wrote an article about Disney, titled "Thirty-Six Hours in a Boom Town".
Disney's growth is limited by the size of the island and the technical difficulties with bringing municipal services across the dams, so Disney has its own water plant, no public sewer system (all septic), and no natural gas service to houses. The first church in Disney was built by William J Morrow. He worked on the Dam from start to finish, he lived there with his family, wife Cora, children Dorothy, Billie, Jesse (Jake),Wayne, Deloris, & Bobbie Gene, Disney had no church, Mr. Morrow wanted a church for his family to go to, so he built the first church Disney had. He went on to develop a large part of the land Around Grand Lake. The Morrows are a large family and many of them still live in Disney, Langley and all around the area.
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