Kay County, Oklahoma

Kay County, Oklahoma
Kay County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma's location in the U.S.
Founded	1893
Seat	Newkirk
Largest city	Ponca City
Area
• Total	945 sq mi (2,448 km2)
• Land	920 sq mi (2,383 km2)
• Water	25 sq mi (65 km2), 2.7%
Population (est.)
• (2013)	45,633
• Density	51/sq mi (20/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.courthouse.kay.ok.us/home.html

Kay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,562. Its county seat is Newkirk, and the largest city is Ponca City.

Kay County comprises the Ponca City, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is in north central Oklahoma on the Kansas state line.

Before statehood, Kay County was formed from the “Cherokee Strip” or “Cherokee Outlet” and originally designated as county “K.” Its name means simply that. Kay County is the only county to keep its same name as the Oklahoma area moved from a territory to a state.

After the Civil War, the Cherokee Nation had to allow the Federal Government to relocate other Native American tribes to settle in the area known as the Cherokee Outlet, The Kansa (Kaw) arrived in June 1873, settling in what would become the northeastern part of Kay County. The Ponca followed in 1877. The Nez Perce came from the Pacific Northwest in 1879, but remained only until 1885, when they returned to their earlier homeland. Their assigned land in Oklahoma was then occupied by the Tonkawa and Lipan Apache people.

The Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, north of Newkirk, was a boarding school for Indians that operated from 1884 to 1980. Its enrollment peaked at 1,300 in the 1950s and its graduates include members of 126 Indian tribes. The distinguished old buildings of the school were constructed of local limestone.

In 2010, the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline (Phase II) was constructed north to south through Kay County to Cushing in Payne County.