Pond Creek, Oklahoma

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Pond Creek, Oklahoma
settlement_type = City
nickname =
motto =

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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location of Pond Creek, Oklahoma


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Oklahoma
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Grant

government_footnotes =
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leader_title =
leader_name =
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unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =

area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 2.2
area_land_km2 = 2.2
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 0.8
area_land_sq_mi = 0.8
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 896
population_density_km2 = 414.1
population_density_sq_mi = 1072.4

timezone = Central (CST)
utc_offset = -6
timezone_DST = CDT
utc_offset_DST = -5
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 320
elevation_ft = 1050
latd = 36 |latm = 40 |lats = 7 |latNS = N
longd = 97 |longm = 48 |longs = 7 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 73766
area_code = 580
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 40-59950GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1096819GR|3
website =
footnotes =

Pond Creek is a city in Grant County, Oklahoma, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 896 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Pond Creek is located at coor dms|36|40|7|N|97|48|7|W|city (36, -97)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.2 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 896 people, 364 households, and 263 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,072.4 people per square mile (411.8/km²). There were 437 housing units at an average density of 523.1/sq mi (200.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.53% White, 3.57% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.11% from other races, and 2.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population.

There were 364 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,515, and the median income for a family was $36,346. Males had a median income of $30,682 versus $19,097 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,456. About 13.6% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.5% of those under age 18 and 14.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

Before people of European descent came on the scene, the region around the present town of Pond Creek was traversed by many of the nomadic Native Americans of the Great Plains. Although the land is now heavily agricultural there are still traces of campsites along the numerous creeks of the drainage of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River. When many of the Native American groups were moved onto reservations in what is now Oklahoma, towns and trading posts were established. Eventually the present-day Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. The history of Pond Creek and the surrounding area can be easily confused with other streams called Pond Creek (see e.g. [ [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v002/v002p009.html] Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 2, No. 1 March, 1924 MILITARY REMINISCENSES OF CAPTAIN RICHARD T. JACOB] ). The present community of Pond Creek is located in what is called the Cherokee Strip, more properly known as the Cherokee Outlet. "The Cherokee Outlet, more often referred to as the Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma, in the United States. It was a sixty-mile (97 km) wide strip of land south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border between the 96th and 100th meridians. It was about 225 miles (362 km) long and in 1891 contained 8,144,682.91 acres (32,960 km²)" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Outlet] The land at the confluence of Osage Creek and Pond Creek was known as the Pond Creek Stockade on the original Jesse Chisholm Trail used by cattle drivers bringing herds of Texas longhorns north to the railroad head first at Abilene, Kansas then later to Wichita and Caldwell, Kansas [ [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v010/v010p331.html] Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 10, No. 3 September, 1932 EDWIN WILLIAMS, ENGINEER Hubert E. Collins pg. 336] . [ [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v014/v014p084.html] Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 14, No. 1 March, 1936 THE TWO CATTLE TRAILS H. S. Tennant] This location is about 4 miles north of the present town of Pond Creek near the present village of Jefferson. Two markers have been placed in this area commemorating the untimely demise of two cowboys [ [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v007/v007p121.html] Chronicles of Oklahoma Volume 7, No. 1 March, 1929 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH T.E. Beck, Jefferson, Okla. Page 121-122] . There are two granite markers placed near Pond Creek on the old Chisholm Trail [ [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v016/v016p393.html] Chronicles of OklahomaVolume 16, No. 4 December, 1938 OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL NOTES Edited by James W. Moffitt pg. 339.]

Pond Creek was settled as a town during the Cherokee Strip run of 1893, the largest land run ever held. "The government townsite of Pond Creek was first entered at 2:10 on the day of the run. By evening, it contained some 8,000 inhabitants, and boasted a good hotel, several restaurants, a dozen law offices, two general stores and six or seven grocery stores."

"The government had previously dug at least one well on each of the government townsites, but Pond Creek's well was soon pumped dry, and an emergency well, dug by the soldiers, struck salt water. Water was hauled from the Salt Fork river and sold for five cents a cup, but it was not suitable for animals to drink, not to consider human beings. Beer sold for fifty and seventy-five cents a bottle, although it had not been iced. Horses were forced to drink from the few stagnant creek pools that could be located. And to add to the misery of being without water, a violent sand storm swept across the prairies, and fires raged in many sections. [Milam, Joe B. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v010/v010p115.html "The Opening of the Cherokee Outlet"] "The Opening of the Cherokee Outlet". Chronicles of Oklahoma 10:1 March 1932 page 128.] "

In addition to these tribulations, the citizens of Pond Creek had to do battle with the powerful railroad interests, in this case the "Rock Island Line" or CRI&P railroad, to get a coveted depot [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enid-Pond_Creek_Railroad_War&action=submit] . Briefly, the railroad had established a station for Pond Creek and the federal government established a different station about 4 miles south of the railroad town. The railroad refused to stop at the government Pond Creek until a combination of citizen action and congressional action forced them to change. Pond Creek legend has it that the railroad specified a mail stop at Pond Creek so to keep face they merely changed the name of railroad Pond Creek to Jefferson and made government Pond Creek the Pond Creek station. This story doesn't quite correspond with most personal histories of the controversy [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v022/v022p435.pdf pp452-456] but it makes a colorful tale.

Famous people

* [http://www.omrf.ouhsc.edu/OMRF/Research/09/JamesJCV.asp Judith James] , Medical Researcher/1985 Graduate of Pond Creek-Hunter High School
* [http://www.ohsse.com/about.htm Van Shea Iven] , Television Personality/1986 Graduate of Pond Creek-Hunter High School

References

External links