Okmulgee County, Oklahoma
| Okmulgee County, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Oklahoma |
|
 Oklahoma's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | 1907 |
| Seat | Okmulgee |
| Largest city | Okmulgee |
| Area | |
| • Total | 702 sq mi (1,818 km2) |
| • Land | 697 sq mi (1,805 km2) |
| • Water | 5.0 sq mi (13 km2), 0.7% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 39,187 |
| • Density | 57/sq mi (22/km²) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
Okmulgee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,069. The county seat is Okmulgee. Formerly part of the Creek Nation, the county was created at statehood in 1907. The name Okmulgee is derived from the Hitichita (Lower Creek) word okimulgi, meaning "boiling waters".
Okmulgee County is included in the Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Creek Nation moved into this part of Indian Territory after signing treaties exchanging their land in Georgia and Alabama in 1826 and 1832. The actual move occurred over the period from 1827 to 1836. The Creek Nation government, led by chief Samuel Checote, revised its constitution in 1867 and designated Okmulgee as its capital in 1868. The U.S. Post Office opened in Okmulgee on April 29, 1869. The Creek Nation built its council house in Okmulgee, a log building, in 1869. The building was rebuilt of stone in 1878.
Okmulgee County was formed on July 16, 1907, from Muskogee land, with a population of 14,362. County government offices were located in the Creek Council House until 1916, when the present Okmulgee County Courthouse was built. Since then, the former council building has been used as a Muscogee Creek history museum. The county's population was 21,115 in 1910 and increased to a high of 56,558 by 1930.
Railroads came to the area in 1900, when the St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway or Frisco) built a line from Sapulpa, Oklahoma via Okmulgee to a place near the Red River. The Shawnee, Oklahoma and Missouri Coal and Railway (later also acquired by the Frisco) built a line from Muskogee to Okmulgee in 1902-03. It was abandoned in 1973. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (purchased by the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway in 1919) ran through Dewar, Oklahoma beginning in 1909, and the Okmulgee Northern Railway operated between Okmulgee and Deep Fork from 1916 to 1964.
...
Wikipedia