Tuttle, Oklahoma

Tuttle, Oklahoma
—  City  —
Location of Tuttle, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 35°17′42″N 97°47′8″W / 35.295°N 97.78556°W / 35.295; -97.78556Coordinates: 35°17′42″N 97°47′8″W / 35.295°N 97.78556°W / 35.295; -97.78556
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Grady
Area
- Total	29.2 sq mi (75.5 km2)
- Land	29.2 sq mi (75.5 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	1,319 ft (402 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	4,294
- Density	147.3/sq mi (56.9/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	73089
Area code(s)	405
FIPS code	40-75450[1]
GNIS feature ID	1099088[2]

Tuttle is a city in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,294 at the 2000 census.

Tuttle is a largely agricultural community with a focus on wheat, cotton, corn, alfalfa hay, Bermuda grass hay, and cattle. Nearby Braum's Dairy, the largest farm in the area, is located just outside the city's limits and has a market presence spanning several states. The city serves as a minor bedroom community of Oklahoma City.

The town was named in 1902 after a local cattleman and rancher, J. H. (Jim) Tuttle.

History

Located east of the Chisholm Trail, Tuttle was developed as a farming and ranching community. The town was platted in 1901 and the land was purchased Chickasaw land from the Colbert Family. The town is named after local rancher James H. Tuttle, a Choctaw by marriage. The right-of-way for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway came from the tribal allotment of Frances Schrock, a Choctaw. Schrock Park is named after her.^[3]

Tuttle's post office was established in 1902, and the town was incorporated in 1906.^[3]

Geography

Tuttle is located at 35°17′42″N 97°47′8″W / 35.295°N 97.78556°W / 35.295; -97.78556 (35.294963, -97.785683).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.2 square miles (76 km²), all of it land.

Tuttle, located in a low-lying river basin along the South Canadian River, is considered to be part of a rapidly growing area of northern McClain and Grady Counties known as the "Tri-City Area" with Newcastle and Blanchard.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000,^[1] there were 4,294 people, 1,585 households, and 1,272 families residing in the city. The population density was 147.3 people per square mile (56.9/km²). There were 1,648 housing units at an average density of 56.5 per square mile (21.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.34% White, 4.98% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 3.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.21% of the population. 0% of the population is African American.

There were 1,585 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.9% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,396, and the median income for a family was $48,682. Males had a median income of $35,599 versus $25,850 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,250. About 4.5% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

The Tuttle Public School system has four schools: Tuttle Elementary (grades K-3), Tuttle Middle School (grades 6-8), Tuttle Intermediate School (grades 4-5), and Tuttle High School (grades 9-12). Their colors are cardinal red and white, and their mascot is the Tiger.

Sports & Competition

Tuttle has a long sports tradition, complete with rivalries with both Newcastle and Blanchard. The Tigers have earned many championships:

• The football team has two state titles (2001 & 2005).
• The baseball team has three state titles (1988, 2006, and 2009).
• The 2005 football and 2006 baseball teams also took honors as State Academic Champions.
• The fast-pitch softball program has seven state titles (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2007 & 2008).
• The wrestling program has seven team state titles (1990, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2009 & 2010), seven dual-state championships (1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2002 & 2010).
• The cheerleading team has ten state titles (1989–91, 1993–98, most recent being in 2009) and has been runner-up twice (1992 & 1999).
• The livestock judging team won the 2006 State Interscholastic Livestock Judging Contest, placed fifth at the national level, and went on to compete internationally.
• The meat evaluation & land judging teams have taken many honors at various competitions in recent years.

Controversy

In March 2006, Tuttle gained brief notoriety in some technical circles after former City Manager Jerry A. Taylor exchanged emails with CentOS developer Johnny Hughes, confused that a misconfiguration issue at the webhost provider was an attempt by CentOS to "hack" the City's website. In spite of attempts by Hughes to explain the cause of the issue and repeated requests for information needed to diagnose the problem, the conversation degenerated. Taylor threatened to call the FBI, and Hughes posted the conversation to the CentOS website.^[5] The posting and its content stirred a global reaction in both Linux circles and media outlets.^[6]

In response to the media coverage of the incident, Taylor defended his actions and pointed out that his threats of FBI action were effective. “After that, he called me Mr. Taylor,” he said, “And he got me the information I needed.” In response to the derision he had received from the Open Source community, Taylor stated that those commenting about him online were "a bunch of freaks out there that don’t have anything better to do ... [CentOS is] a free operating system that this guy gives away, which tells you how much time he’s got on his hands."^[7]

Notable natives and residents

• Clyde Conner - former wide receiver with the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers
• Alfred P. Murrah - Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Jason White - former quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and 2003 Heisman Trophy winner

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Jackson, Gwen. "Tuttle - Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture". Oklahoma Historical Society. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/T/TU026.html. Retrieved 11 April 2011. 
4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
5. ^ "Hughes' post of the Hughes-Taylor email exchange". http://www.centos.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=127. 
6. ^ "Oklahoma city threatens to call FBI over 'renegade' Linux maker". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/tuttle_centos/. 
7. ^ "Tuttle Times story regarding Hughes-Taylor misunderstanding". Archived from the original on 17 Sep 2010. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090415083741/http://tuttletimes.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_088201244.html. 

External links

• City of Tuttle
• Tuttle City Schools
• Tuttle Times - a local newspaper