Center, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
  Center  Center | |
| Coordinates: 34°47′57.48″N96°48′56.16″W / 34.7993000°N 96.8156000°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Pontotoc |
| Elevation | 1,040 ft (317 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 580 |
Center is a ghost town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. A few buildings remain there, including a fire department.
Center was established in the mid-1800s as a white establishment in the Chickasaw Nation. They illegally made the town due to the fact that it was under white ownership. Most of the settlers and pioneers of Center inhabited the town via lease or rent of ownership. These people would build stores there.
Around the mid-1890s, Center was a leading town in modern-day Pontotoc County. The town had over 500 people. The main area was built circling two wells. The town had a courthouse, twenty-five stores of fluctuating responsibilities, two hotels, and was what considered as a “leading newspaper” by townsfolk.
In March 1900, the west side of Center was destroyed by a fire. This included the courthouse. No plans were made to fight the fire, and no one could fight a fire this disastrous. When other towns were being built in the Chickasaw nation, people began to move away from Center, leaving it a desolate shell of what it once was. [1]
There is a newer Center that was rebuilt a half-mile south of where it once was. [2]
Pontotoc County is a county in the south central part of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,065. Its county seat is Ada. The county was created at statehood from part of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. It was named for a historic Chickasaw tribal area in Mississippi. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Pontotoc is usually translated "cattail prairie" or "land of hanging grapes."
Murray County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,904. The county seat is Sulphur. The county was named for William H. Murray, a member and president of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and later a Governor of Oklahoma.
McClain County is a county located in south central Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,662. Its county seat is Purcell. The county was named for Charles M. McClain, an Oklahoma constitutional convention attendee.
Johnston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,272. Its county seat is Tishomingo. It was established at statehood on November 16, 1907, and named for Douglas H. Johnston, a governor of the Chickasaw Nation.
The Chickasaw are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as a member of the Muskogean language family. In the present day, they are organized as the federally recognized Chickasaw Nation.
Yalobusha County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,481. It has two county seats, Water Valley and Coffeeville.
Pontotoc is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Mississippi, located to the west of the larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,640 at the 2020 census. Pontotoc is a Chickasaw word that means, “Land of the Hanging Grapes.” A section of the city largely along Main Street and Liberty Street has been designated the Pontotoc Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Treaty of Pontotoc Site is also listed on the National Register. The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek, part of U.S. president Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal policy, ceded millions of acres of Native American lands and relocated the Chicakasaw west of the Mississippi River.
Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North Carolina native who married a Chickasaw woman and became a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation before the Civil War. The town economy is largely based on agriculture and oil production.
Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,101 as of the 2020 Census,, an increase of 2.2% over the population of 3,034 reported at the 2010 census. It was the first capital of the Chickasaw Nation, from 1856 until Oklahoma statehood in 1907. The city is home to Murray State College, a community college with an annual enrollment of 3,015 students. Tishomingo is part of the Texoma region.
Marietta is a city and county seat in Love County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,719 as of the 2020 Census, a 3.5% increase over the 2,626 reported at the 2010 census, which itself was a 7.4 percent increase from the figure of 2,445 in 2000. Marietta is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma, Micropolitan Statistical Area. For tourism purposes, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism includes it in 'Chickasaw Country'. It is also a part of the Texoma region.
Dibble is a town in McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population within city limits was 867 at the 2020 census, down from 878 at the 2010 census. The community has 8,868 residents in its 73031 zipcode, according to Sperling's Best Places. Dibble is in the outer suburban area west of Purcell and southwest of Norman, in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area, according to the U.S. Census.
Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States Census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was incorporated in 1901. Ada is home to East Central University, and is the capital of the Chickasaw Nation. Ada is an Oklahoma Main Street City, an Oklahoma Certified City, and a Tree City USA member.
Roff is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 725 at the 2010 census.
Stonewall is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. Named for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, the settlement's post office was established in December 1874.
Antlers is a city in and the county seat of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,221 as of the 2020 United States census. The town was named for a kind of tree that becomes festooned with antlers shed by deer, and is taken as a sign of the location of a spring frequented by deer.
The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. They are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, originally from northern Mississippi, northwestern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and western Tennessee. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 13th largest tribe in the United States.
The historic Chickasaw Nation Capitols are located in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The property consists of Chickasaw Council House Museum and the Chickasaw Nation Capitol building, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 5, 1971.
The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was a treaty signed on October 20, 1832 by representatives of the United States and the Chiefs of the Chickasaw Nation assembled at the National Council House on Pontotoc Creek in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The treaty ceded the 6,283,804 million acres of the remaining Chickasaw homeland in Mississippi in return for Chickasaw relocation on an equal amount of land west of the Mississippi River.
Atoka County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory, prior to Oklahoma being admitted as a state. The county formed part of the Nation's Pushmataha District, or Third District, one of three administrative and judicial provinces called districts.
The history of slavery in Oklahoma began in the 1830s with the five Native American nations in the area: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. Slavery within these Native American nations began simply by placing a lower status on them than their master. The slavery in these tribes varied in style, being specifically different from American slavery. Slavery in the area continued to grow for many years, even throughout the entirety of the Civil War. The growth was significant, slaves making up a portion of the population in the new Indian territory. Slavery ended in the Oklahoma area with the completion of the Civil War. Treaties were made with the nations regarding citizenship and slavery for African Americans. The repercussions of slavery that followed greatly affected the state, with prominent racial issues.