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Okfuskee County

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Welcome to Okfuskee County OKGenWeb Project

This county is available for adoption!  If you would like to be the County Coordinator please contact our State Coordinator Linda K Lewis!!

Named for a Creek town in Cleburn County, Alabama, Okfuskee County was originally part of the Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Much of its history is tied to that of the Creek Nation. For example, Thlopthlocco Town, established in the 1830's, became the headquarters of Colonel D. H. Cooper's Confederate forces in 1861, prior to battles with Opothleyahola and the "Loyal Creeks"
 From 1802 to 1825, this land was termed the "Missouri Territory" and was open to exploration and settlement. By 1825, it was closed to white settlement and established as a United States Indian Reservation. The Creek Nation owned and governed this area from 1859 to near statehood. The land was allotted to individual Creek Nation citizens, including the freedman. Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Several towns vied to be the county seat of Okfuskee County including Weleetka and Castle, after statehood but Okemah has always had that distinction.
Also, Okemah, the county seat, is named for the Creek chief Okemah meaning "Big Chief." Two of Okemah's most noted residents were Leon Chase Phillips, 11th governor of Oklahoma, and noted American songwriter Woody Guthrie.
Boley, founded in 1904 on 80 acres of land belonging to a Creek freedman, is one of the few black towns remaining in the United States. Established to demonstrate the ability of the black community to govern itself, it thrived for many years before the Farmer's State Bank was robbed and in the process D. J. Turner and the mayor of Boley were shot and killed.

Thank You to all former coordinators & all contributers to this site !!

Neighboring Counties

Lincoln County Creek County Okmulgee County
Pottawattomie County Okfuskee County McIntosh County
Seminole County Hughes County  

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County Timeline of Events

What was happening during your ancestor's lifetime?

 
Legend

  World/National Events in Blue

   Oklahoma Events in Green

   Okfuskee County Events in Red


1803

1819

1825

1830

1860

1861

1863

1865

1867

1869

1870

1872

1874

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1883

1889

1890

1893

1884

1896

1897

1898

1900

1902

1903

1904

1905

1906

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

1912

1914

1915

1920

1922

  • Two movies, "The Bull Dogger" and "Crimson Skull", starring Bill Pickett, black rodeo star, are filmed in Boley.

  • Thlopthlocco Methodist Church builds new building.

1924

  • First flights around the world.

1926

  • First Baptist Church of Okemah moves to new building at Fifth and Ash.

1927

  • Okfuskee County courthouse building completed.

1928

  • First television broadcast in New York.

1929

  • Black Friday on Wall Street (October 28).

  • Great Depression begins (1929-1942).

1930

  • Fort Smith and Western fails leaving area without rail service.

  • Okfuskee County Population  29,016.

1932

  • Three gunmen attempt robbery of The Farmer's and Merchant's Bank of Boley - the three gunmen and the Bank President are killed.

1933

  • Roosevelt's New Deal enacted.

  • 21st Amendment repeals prohibition.

1934

  • Gunmen rob the Okemah National Bank and the First National Bank of Okemah (December 22).

1935

  • Oklahoma's Dust Bowl Days (1935-1938).

1936

  • Okemah's new post office building is dedicated.

1939

  • World War II begins (1939-1945).

  • Okemah native, Leon C. (Red) Phillips is elected Governor (1939-1943).

1940

  • Okfuskee County Population  26,279.

1941

  • Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (December 7).

1943

  • WWII rationing begins in U.S.

1944

  • Allies invade Normandy on D-Day (June 6).

1950

  • Korean War begins (1950-1953).

  • Okfuskee County Population  16,948.

1954

  • Segregation in public schools deemed illegal.

1959

  • Vietnam War begins (1959-1975).

1960

  • Okfuskee County Population  11,706.

1961

  • First Baptist Church of Okemah purchases the old Church of Christ building at Sixth and Ash.

1962

  • Cuban Missile Crisis.

  • Fire heavily damages the First Baptist Church of Okemah (Sixth and Ash).

1963

  • President Kennedy assassinated.

1967

  • Woody Guthrie, Okemah native, dies in New York of Huntington's Disease.

1969

  • Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon.

  • Okemah adds third water tower - a tribute to singer Woody Guthrie.

1970

  • Okfuskee County Population  10,683.

1974

  • Richard Nixon resigns his Presidency.

1979

  • Jane Mayo, Okemah native, named All-Around Cowgirl.

1980

  • Fire destroys Okemah's Box Hardware, Power's TV, and some apartments. Six other businesses receive heavy smoke damage. Damage estimated at $300,000. (October 5)

  • Okfuskee County Population  11,125.

1981

  • A tornado sweeps across rural Okfuskee County northeast of Okemah destroying the New Life Holiness Church, a residence, a vacant house, a mobile home, damages the roofs of several homes, and kills livestock. (May 18)

1986

  • Space shuttle Challenger explodes.

1989

  • Cold War ends and the Berlin wall opened.

1990

  • Okfuskee County Population  11,551

2000

  • Okfuskee County Population  11,814


 

Thanks to Rusty Lang for the idea and starting outline of this timeline.

 

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