Okemah is the largest city in and the county seat of Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. Landmarks include Crystal Theatre (Okemah, Oklahoma), Okfuskee County Courthouse and Okemah Armory. Okemah is the birthplace of Woody Guthrie, singer-songwriter.
Okemah, Oklahoma gifts and souvenirs: 25 designs made from Okemah's own map, landmarks and history, from $10 to $95. Printed to order and shipped free in the USA.
| Popular | Price |
|---|---|
| Okemah Hometown Ornament | $23 |
| Okemah Vintage Travel Poster | from $40 |
| Okemah Varsity Crewneck | from $57 |
| Okemah Est. Tee | from $33 |
| Okemah Town Line Mug | from $26 |
| Okemah Market Tote | $37 |
Ceramic keepsake, gold ribbon, in 4 styles
Its landmark photo in a classic travel-poster layout
A local landmark photo as a gallery print
The town's story in dates, from its own records, for home or classroom
Map of local landmarks, washable fabric
Heavy-blend fleece, street map printed on the back
Red heavy-blend crewneck, knit-stitch town print
Soft Bella+Canvas jersey
Kids' Bella+Canvas jersey, youth sizes
Bella+Canvas toddler jersey
Bella+Canvas baby bodysuit
Glossy ceramic, dishwasher safe
Weatherproof, for the front walk
24″×16″, printed coir-look fibers, rubber back
12″×12″ printed wood, ready to hang
Soft-touch, zip cover
A local landmark photo with the town name, 18″×18″
Sturdy all-over-print tote
Glossy top, cork back
Soft fleece, 50″×60″
20 oz, double-wall stainless
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
6″×4″ postcard, glossy front
The town's earliest Sanborn fire-insurance map, drawn building by building and hand-coloured, from the Library of Congress
From the Library of Congress collections: a historic survey drawing or photograph of the town
Population 2010: 3,223 → 2020: 3,074
From Wikidata (CC0).
Historically occupied by the Osage and Quapaw, who ceded their lands to the United States by 1825, the area was assigned to the Creek Nation and specifically the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town after Indian Removal of tribes from the Southeast United States in the 1830s.
Okemah was named after a Kickapoo chief. In March 1902, Chief Okemah built a bark house in his tribe's traditional fashion. He had come to await the opening of the townsite, which took his name on April 22, 1902. In the Kickapoo language, okemah means "things up high," such as a highly placed person or town, or high ground.
In preparation for Oklahoma's statehood, the Dawes Commission was authorized in 1896 to work with the Five Civilized Tribes to enroll their members for allotments of tribal land to individual households. Registration of tribal members lasted from 1898 to 1906. After allotment, the government was going to declare the remaining tribal lands "surplus" and sell them to European-American settlers.
Okemah was platted by a group of Shawnee residents in March 1902 on land belonging to Mahala and Nocus Fixico, full-blood Creek. The Fixicos had no legal right at the time to sell their holding, as enrollment of tribal members on the Dawes Roll continued until 1906, and no land-sales were to take place by Indians until it was completed. That did not appear to affect the promoters or the development of the town.
On April 22, 1902, the formal opening launched the town. A post office opened on May 16, and the town was incorporated in 1903. In the spring of 1904, Commission restrictions on the sale of townsite lots were removed. The Department of the Interior trustees of land held by American Indians paid the Fixicos $50 an acre for their land, and gave legal deeds to the purchasers who claimed title.
In the town's first week, the following stores were established: four general merchandise, two hardware, one 5 & 10 cent store, three drugstores, four groceries, three wagon-yards, four lumberyards, three cafes, one bakery, two millineries, four livery-barns, three blacksmiths, two dairies, two cotton-gins, and two weekly newspapers. Eight doctors settled there, four lawyers, two walnut log buyers, and one Chinese laundryman. Two hotels were quickly put up, including the three-story Broadway hotel, which set the city apart as an important town in early Oklahoma.
Okfuskee County had been organized at the time of statehood in 1907. Okemah was chosen as county seat in a county election held August 27, 1908.
The townsite was selected by two railroad surveyors, Perry Rodkey and H.R. Dexter. Dexter is credited with choosing the town name. They picked the site believing that two railroads, the Fort Smith and Western Railroad and the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) would intersect there. While the former did build a line through the site, the latter never did.
The town's first state-chartered bank began business the day of the opening, April 22, 1902, in a tent on the northwest corner of the present Fifth and Broadway (now City Hall). C. J. Benson was president. W. H. Dill was vice president and served as cashier. It became the First National Bank in 1903, but was liquidated in 1939, having failed due to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
J. E. Galloway was the first mayor; Perry Rodkey, first postman; E. D. Dexter, first hotel operator; Dill ran the first telephone company; John D. Richards had the first hardware store; McGee Brothers put in the first cotton gin; and E. E. Shook established the first lumberyard. The first church in the city was the North Methodist, at Sixth and Ash, but the first church service Baptist, presided over by the Rev. Black. The editor Charles Barnclaw published the first newspaper.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Okemah, Oklahoma, revision 1375868937 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
We share a part of every Okemah sale with local partners, and we'd love to print from your collection. Old photographs, maps and postcards make the best keepsakes.
Partner with usA favorite landmark, your street, a school or team, an anniversary gift, a different product. Tell us and we'll get back to you by email.
2 free coloring pages of Okemah, each traced from a photo of a local landmark. Print them at home, at school or for story hour.
Okemah's population was 3,074 in the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 3,223 in 2010.
Okfuskee County Courthouse
Okemah Armory