Yukon, Oklahoma

Yukon, Oklahoma
City

Yukon's Best Flour Mill, Yukon, OK

Location of Yukon, Oklahoma
Yukon, Oklahoma

Location in the United States

Coordinates: 35°30′8″N 97°44′57″W / 35.50222°N 97.74917°W / 35.50222; -97.74917Coordinates: 35°30′8″N 97°44′57″W / 35.50222°N 97.74917°W / 35.50222; -97.74917
Country United States
State Oklahoma
County Canadian
Government
 • Mayor John Alberts[1]
Area
 • Total 26.3 sq mi (68.1 km2)
 • Land 26.2 sq mi (67.9 km2)
 • Water 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation 1,289 ft (393 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 22,709[2]
 • Density 866/sq mi (334.3/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes 73085, 73099
Area code(s) 405
FIPS code 40-82950 [3]
GNIS feature ID 1100067 [4]
Website www.cityofyukonok.gov

Yukon is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 22,709 at the 2010 census.[2] Founded in the 1890s, the town was named in reference to a gold rush in Yukon Territory, Canada, at the time. Historically, Yukon served as an urban center for area farmers and the site of a large milling operation. It is now considered primarily a bedroom community for people who work in Oklahoma City.

History

Yukon was founded by A.N. Spencer in 1891,[5] and was named for the Yukon River in Alaska.[6]

Spencer, a cattleman from Texas turned railroad builder, was working on a line from El Reno to Arkansas when he decided to build the town.[7] Spencer filed the plat on the townsite on February 14, 1891.[7] He had agreed to do so and lay the train tracks through the town in exchange for half of the lots, which were owned by Minnie Taylor and Luther S. Morrison.[5] Taylor and Morrison had acquired the land in the 1889 land run.[5] Spencer also bought two quarter sections south of Main Street from Joseph Carson and his sister, Josephine.[7] Spencer and his brother, Lewis, named the town after the Yukon Territory of Canada, where a gold rush was booming at the time.

The first houses and businesses were located on the north side of Spencer Avenue (now Main Street) and present Fourth and Fifth streets.[7] The Canadian County Courier reported on April 1, 1891, that the city had 25 homes, one bank, two real estate offices, two restaurants, a lumber yard, a hardware store, a grocery, a livery stable, two saloons, a blacksmith shop, a printing office, a barber shop, and a second barber shop "about completed."[7]

The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Company laid its track, causing the abandonment of Frisco, which had a population of 1,000 at the time.[5] Beginning in about 1898, Yukon began to attract immigrants from Bohemia. Following World War I and the dissolution of Bohemia into Czechoslovakia and Moravia, the immigrants became known as "Czechs."[5] Yukon is known as the "Czech Capital of Oklahoma".[5]

The town voted to incorporate in 1901[8] and voted to add water works, sewer, and electricity from the mill in 1910.[7] Businesses remained clustered on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth, until the 1920s, when they began to locate in other parts of the town.[7] The interurban was built from Oklahoma City to El Reno in 1911.[7] It closed in 1940.[7] Paved roads didn't arrive until the construction of State Highway 66 in 1926.[7]

Yukon thrived as the urban center for area farmers and had an organized library by 1905 and a dedicated library building in 1927.[5] A small milling operation, the Yukon Mill and Grain Company, opened in 1893 and grew to shipping flour and feeds throughout the south and exporting them overseas by 1915.[7] The milling operation was owned by the Kroutil and Dobry families, but the Dobry family built their own mill and parted ways with the Kroutils in the 1930s.[7] The mills were sold to larger corporations; Shawnee Mills purchased the Yukon Mill and Grain Company and Mid-Continent purchased the Dobry Mills.[5] Paying homage to that history, the students of Yukon High School are known as "Millers", and their mascot is "The Miller Man".

In 1949, Yukon garnered national media attention because of the plight of Grady the Cow, who was stuck inside a silo for four days.[9][10]

From a population of 830 in 1907, Yukon grew to 1,990 by 1950.[5] By 1960, the population registered at 3,076.[5] Oklahoma City annexed nearly all of the land around Yukon during the 1960s. This brought a boom in residential construction and commercial development. The town had grown to approximately 22,000 residents in 2005.[7]

Geography

Yukon is a western suburb of Oklahoma City, and it is located in the central portion of the east side of Canadian County, Oklahoma at 35°30′8″N 97°44′57″W / 35.50222°N 97.74917°W / 35.50222; -97.74917 (35.502255, -97.749120).[11] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.3 square miles (68.1 km2), of which 26.2 square miles (67.9 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.21%, is water.[12] The town is traversed by historic Route 66 and state highways 4 and 92. It lies just north of Interstate 40. Downtown Oklahoma City is 16 miles (26 km) to the east.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
19101,018—
19201,016−0.2%
19301,45543.2%
19401,66014.1%
19501,99019.9%
19603,07654.6%
19708,411173.4%
198017,112103.4%
199020,93522.3%
200021,0430.5%
201022,7097.9%
Est. 201525,892[13]14.0%
Sources:[3][14][15][16][17][18]

As of the 2010 census, there were 22,709 people, 8,744 households, and 6,390 families residing in the city.[19] The population density was 880 people per square mile (340/km²).[19] There were 9,231 housing units at an average density of 315.8 per square mile (121.9/km²).[19] The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% white, 1.2% African American, 3.7% Native American, 2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races.[19] Hispanic or Latino of any race made up 4.9% of the population.[19]

There were 8,744 households out of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families.[20] Single individuals living alone accounted for 21% of households and individuals 65 years of age or older living alone accounted for 9.2% of households.[20] The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.97.[20]

In the city, the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 59.9% from 18 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older.[20] The median age was 37.7 years.[20] The population was 52.8% female and 47.2% male.[20]

The median income for a household in the city was $59,803, and the median income for a family was $66,635.[20] Males had a median income of $49,836 versus $34,717 for females.[20] About 6.5% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line.[20]

Arts and culture

The Czech Hall, a national and state historic site, is devoted to preserving Czech customs, heritage, and culture. Community events include the Czech Festival in October and the Chisholm Trail Festival in June. Yukon's sister city is Krnov in the Czech Republic.

Education

The Yukon Public Schools district includes 11 schools, served a community of 36,938 people, and encompasses 66.10 square miles of land and 2.18 square miles of water.[21] The school district offers pre-school through secondary school education.[21] The school served 7,209 students in the 2009-2010 school year.[21]

The high school has won state titles in softball in 1986, 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2010; in boys basketball in 1974 and 1979; in baseball in 1982, 1996, and 1997; and cheerleading in 2002.

Notable people

Sister cities

See also

References

  1. ↑ City of Yukon. "City Council". Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 "2010 City Population and Housing Occupancy Status". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Savage, Cynthia. "Yukon," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society. Accessed April 17, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Profile for Yukon, Oklahoma, OK". ePodunk. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 About Yukon, City of Yukon website (accessed May 4, 2010).
  8. ↑ "Yukon Oklahoma". City-Data.com. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  9. ↑ Associated Press. "Grady Dies; Famous As Cow in Silo," Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania), July 25, 1961. Accessed April 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Sutter. Ellie. "Silo Landmark Torn Down Grady the Cow Only a Memory," NewsOK (website of The Oklahoman), January 6, 1997. Accessed April 30, 2015.
  11. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  12. ↑ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Yukon city, Oklahoma". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Population-Oklahoma" (PDF). U.S. Census 1910. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "Population-Oklahoma" (PDF). 15th Census of the United States. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "Number of Inhabitants: Oklahoma" (PDF). 18th Census of the United States. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Oklahoma: Population and Housing Unit Counts" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 United States Census Demographic Profile of Yukon, Oklahoma, at American FactFinder Archived September 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. (cite does not allow direct link). (accessed September 5, 2013)
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for Yukon, Oklahoma, at American FactFinder Archived September 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. (cite does not allow direct link). (accessed September 5, 2013)
  21. 1 2 3 USA.com Profile of Yukon Public Schools (accessed September 5, 2013)
  22. ↑ "Kathryn Albertson". J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
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