Kaw City, Oklahoma
| Kaw City, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Location of Kaw City, Oklahoma |
|
| Coordinates: 36°45′57″N 96°51′29″W / 36.76583°N 96.85806°WCoordinates: 36°45′57″N 96°51′29″W / 36.76583°N 96.85806°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 Oklahoma
|
| County | Kay |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.5 sq mi (14.3 km2) |
| • Land | 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km2) |
| • Water | 2.8 sq mi (7.4 km2) |
| Elevation | 994 ft (303 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 375 |
| • Density | 137.9/sq mi (53.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 74641 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| FIPS code | 40-38800 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1094296 |
Kaw City is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 375 at the 2010 census, an increase of 0.1 percent from 372 at the 2000 census. Kaw City was named for the Kanza Indians, called the Kaw by locals.
In 1902, the original Kaw City was founded, prior to Oklahoma statehood, as a farming community in the fertile oxbow bend of the Arkansas River. By statehood in 1907, it had 486 inhabitants.Though the original townsite is now inundated by the waters of Kaw Lake, the old town was quite a busy place.
It became a booming oil town in 1919, when 'black gold' was discovered in nearby Kay County and the present Osage Nation reservation. The population jumped from 627 in 1920 to 1,001 in 1930. It even had a very popular four-story hotel filled with one of the world's rarest art collections. Laura A. Clubb, owner of the collection and wife of a local rancher, later donated her collection to Philbrook Art Museum.
The majority of the town was overcome by a (weather-related) flood in 1923, and then devastated again by the Great Depression.
In the late 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed Kaw Dam on the Arkansas River just south of the original Kaw City site. It then went underwater permanently in 1976, when the gates of the Kaw Dam closed and turned that particular area of the Arkansas River into Kaw Lake.
Many buildings in Kaw City, including the old Santa Fe Railroad Depot which is now the Kaw City Museum, were moved to the town's present location, on high ground near the lake. When the water in the lake is exceptionally low, some of the foundations of the old structures can still be seen just above the water.
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Wikipedia