Driftwood, Oklahoma
| Driftwood | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Driftwood
Driftwood
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| Coordinates: 36°52′45″N 98°21′34″W / 36.87917°N 98.35944°WCoordinates: 36°52′45″N 98°21′34″W / 36.87917°N 98.35944°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Alfalfa |
| Incorporated | 1898 |
| Government | |
| • Type | unincorporated (part of Stella township) |
| Elevation | 1,191 ft (363 m) |
| Population (1990) | |
| • Total | 27 |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 73728 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1092189 |
Driftwood is a small unincorporated community in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, United States. A formerly prosperous small rural community, at one time it had two churches, a grocery store, barber shop, gas station with repair shop, grain elevator, 2-story school, a telephone office, bank, and post office. Today, it is made up of less than a dozen residences and a church with a cemetery which are grouped along either side of Oklahoma SH-8/SH-58.
Prior to statehood in 1907, all the lands of what was to one day become Alfalfa County were part of the Cherokee Outlet under the control of the Cherokee Nation. A prominent rancher, Major Andrew Drumm, leased grazing lands from the Cherokee in the 1870s and 1880s at a location between the Salt Fork and Medicine, or Medicine Lodge rivers, from which he operated his 150,000 acre U Ranch. Starting in 1874, the U Ranch headquarters was located a few miles north of present-day Cherokee, just southeast of Driftwood.
The town of Driftwood was officially incorporated in 1898. (However, a footnote to the 1930 U.S. Census states that the town was "incorporated from part of Driftwood township in 1924.") The name "Driftwood" was taken from nearby Driftwood Creek, which empties into the Medicine Lodge River. Driftwood's post office was established May 12, 1894. From 1902 to 1906, this post office also served nearby Burlington (then known as Drumm).
In 1901, a stage line was established connecting nearby Kiowa, Kansas with Alfalfa county towns, including Burlington, Driftwood, Cherokee, Yewed, and Augusta. The county's first railroad, the Choctaw Northern railway (later owned by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific), connected Driftwood to the other Alfalfa county towns of Aline, Augusta, Lambert, Ingersoll, Amorita, and then continued on into Kansas.
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