Slapout, Oklahoma

Slapout is a small unincorporated community in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. The land upon which part of the town sits was homesteaded by Joseph L. Johnston. It sits on the northwest corner of the land Johnson had acquired with a government claim in 1904, three years before Oklahoma became a state.

With the construction of Highway Three across Oklahoma during the Great Depression, Tom Lemons, who had bought the Johnson homestead, moved a chicken coup to where the highway passed his land. In the chicken coup he started a store. He told The Tulsa Tribune he had nothing else to do during the depression, so he thought he'd start a town. He named his town, Nye, after the Progressive U.S. Senator Gerald Nye (R, N.D.) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Nye] .

However, local legend says whenever one of the highway workers entered the store in Nye, they were often told by Lemon's sister the store was "slap out" of whatever they wanted. Tom Lemons insisted his sister never used the phrase. However, the name stuck. When Tom continued to insist his side of the highway was called "Nye," patrons responded that the south side of the highway could be "Slapout" and the north side with Lemon's store was "Nye Out."

Tom Lemons finally gave in and the store and gas station became "Slapout." At one time, the town had 10 inhabitants and included the Hagan Grocery on the south side of the highway. Lemons also built a building to house his rock collection.

Today the gas station in the town (population perhaps 3)is a regular stop for Tulsa and Oklahoma skiers traveling to Colorado.

The town was featured in a newspaper photo essay by Robert R. Mercer in The Tulsa Tribune in the 1970s.

References

Shirk, George H.; "Oklahoma Place Names"; University of Oklahoma Press; Norman, Oklahoma; 1987: ISBN 0-8061-2028-2 .Mercer, Robert R.; photojournalist & chair, journalism department, Cypress College, Cypress, CA

External links