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 Kingfisher, OK Posted by:  hamquilter
N 35° 50.912 W 097° 56.361
14S E 595778 N 3967667
We have used the coordinates at the site of the Chisholm Trail Museum in Kingfisher, since the history of the town centers around the Chisholm Trail and its value to this area of the State.
Waymark Code: WM14M4A
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/24/2021
Views: 2
"A cattleman names King Fisher gave his name to KINGFISHER, where he also operated a stage line and maintained a stage station. The name was also selected for one of the five original countries comprising old Oklahoma. Locally, the town is known as "the buckle of the wheat belt." In the neighborhood of Kingfisher the Chisholm Trail was deeply rutted through the level prairie. At the time of the Rn, April 22, 1889, these ruts were still so deep and narrow that, overgrown with grass as they were, vehicles engaged in the race for homesteads wee wrecked and many horses' legs were broken. An old-timer, describing some of the biggest herds that made such ruts, has said that more than once as a boy he watched one herd passing his father's home from sunrise to sunset." [The WPA Guide to 1930s Oklahoma, 1941, Page 372]
Today, Kingfisher is a town of about 4900, located on Highway 81, which runs roughly along the site of the old Chisholm Trail. The town is very historic minded and values and preserves its history. The Chisholm Trail Museum is a large museum with numerous photos and artifacts from those early days. There are displays of how various businesses would have looked and there are many vintage agricultural pieces of equipment and wagons. In back of the building there is a display of original historic buildings from the late 1800's, including the first wooden bank in Kingfisher, a one room school, a church, a couple of log cabins, an outside jail cell, and a blacksmith shop.
Founded with the Land run of 1889, Kingfisher grew quickly because of its great agricultural value. With the incoming railroad, the town became a hub for the distribution of wheat. The town population in 1940 was 3352. Today, the town continues to be a center for wheat production and distribution. Kingfisher is the county seat for Kingfisher County, and its 15,700 residents.
Book: Oklahoma
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 372
Year Originally Published: 1941
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