Turpin, Oklahoma

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Turpin, Oklahoma
Census-designated place
Beaver County Oklahoma incorporated and unincorporated areas Turpin highlighted.svg
Location in Beaver County and state of Oklahoma.
Coordinates: 36°52′14″N100°52′57″W / 36.87056°N 100.88250°W / 36.87056; -100.88250
Country United States
State Oklahoma
County Beaver
Area
[1]
 • Total1.00 sq mi (2.59 km2)
 • Land1.00 sq mi (2.59 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
[2]
2,753 ft (839 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total442
 • Density442.44/sq mi (170.77/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
73950
FIPS code 40-75200
GNIS feature ID2629938 [2]

Turpin is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. The post office was established April 8, 1925. The population was 442 at the time of the 2020 census. [3]

Contents

History

Turpin was named for Carl Julian Turpin, a son of Thomas James Turpin and Elmanda (Kennerly) Turpin. Carl was born on 10 Aug 1871 in Quantico, Wicomico County, Maryland. He died 20 Nov 1942 in Oklahoma City. [4]

Carl J. Turpin was the general manager of the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad (BM&E). [5] In 1918, two farmers from Hardtner, Kansas, Jacob Achenbach and Ira B. Blackstock, requested his assistance. Messrs. Achenbach and Blackstock had been asked by farmers in Beaver County and the surrounding areas to build a railroad through the Panhandle so that their wheat crops could be shipped to outlying markets. Achenbach and Blackstock knew how to build the railroad, but they needed someone to manage it. That is where Carl Julian Turpin came in. [6] Turpin had ample experience as a railroad man, his career beginning in 1888. [4]

Described as a "by the book" type of general manager, Turpin was a stern, well-groomed man. [7] He worked without salary, but did receive stock in the line, from 1918 until 1926. At its height, the BM&E ran from Beaver, Oklahoma through Turpin and Eva, Oklahoma and continuing to a connection with the Santa Fe Railroad in Keyes, Oklahoma. The line connected with the Katy at Forgan and the Rock Island at Hooker. The BM&E was eventually sold to Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (M-K-T or Katy) in 1931. [8]

"When I was a kid 20 years old, but married, I used to want to work for a railroad which paid $50 a month and furnished its agents a two-story house on the line, rent, brooms, and matches free. Maybe I still could find something like that," Turpin said, after the sale of the BM&E. [8] The railway was eventually abandoned in 1972. [9]

General

Turpin centers around its independent school district. It consists of a multi-building K-12 facility that draws its student body from surrounding farms and the housing communities of Little Ponderosa and Pheasant Run. This in turn means that, while Turpin is smaller than the surrounding communities of Beaver, Forgan, Hooker, and Tyrone, it has a comparatively large student body.[ citation needed ]

The school is the largest employer in the community, and the hub for community activities. Turpin comes to life between summers, beginning with football and basketball in the fall and ending with track, softball, and baseball in the spring. Turpin High School is recognized for its athletic success in class A winning championships in football, track, and golf. Notable alumni include former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Lynn Scott, [10] award winning educator Sarah Lynch and author James Stoddard. [11]

The podcast, Gone Ramblin, was started by two Turpin alumni that examines life in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

The Turpin Grain Elevator was situated on the BM&E’s line, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Beaver County, Oklahoma. [12]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
2010 467—
U.S. Decennial Census [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Beaver County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,049. The county seat is Beaver. The name was given because of the presence of many beaver dams on the Beaver River, which runs through the area. It is located in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Beaver is a town and county seat in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. The community is in the Oklahoma Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the town’s population was 1,280. The city is host to the annual World Cow Chip Throwing Championship. Held in April, "Cow Chip" brings attention from nearby cities with a parade, carnival, and cowchip throwing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forgan, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Forgan is a town in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town’s population was 450.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keyes, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooker, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad</span> Former American Class I railroad

The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railroad (UP), Southern Branch, it came to serve an extensive rail network in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1988, it merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad; today, it is part of UP.

Hough is a small unincorporated rural community in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States, north-northwest of Guymon. The population was 20 at the time of the 2020 census.

Baker is an unincorporated community in northeastern Texas County, Oklahoma, United States, ¼ mile north of U.S. Route 64. Tyrone lies six miles to the north-northwest on U.S. Route 54 and Turpin lies eight miles to the east at the intersection of Route 64 and U.S. Route 83 in adjacent Beaver County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva, Oklahoma</span> Unincorporated community in Oklahoma, United States

Eva is an unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located along State Highway 95, approximately two miles north of U.S. Route 412.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floris, Oklahoma</span> Unincorporated community in Oklahoma, United States

Floris is an unincorporated community in northwest Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States.

Mouser is an unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. Mouser is 13.5 miles (21.7 km) north-northeast of Guymon and 11 miles (18 km) west of Hooker. The community of Straight is two miles to the west. The Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad (BM&E) reached the locale in the summer of 1928, and two grain elevators in Mouser, the Mouser Grain Elevator and the Mouser Woodframe Grain Elevator/Collingwood Elevator, which were built along the BM&E's tracks, are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Texas County, Oklahoma.

Muncy is an unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma, United States. Sometimes called Tracy, it is 18.2 miles (29.3 km) west-northwest of Guymon.

The Tracy Woodframe Grain Elevator was a grain elevator in Muncy, Oklahoma. The elevator was built in 1931 along the Beaver, Mead & Englewood Railroad, the same year Tracy was founded. The elevator operated continuously from its opening until around 1983, outlasting the railroad only a mere 10 years after the last train left eastbound in 1972. On May 13, 1983, the elevator was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The elevator has fallen down. All that remains is a scalehouse that was possibly remnant of a depot for the railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooker Woodframe Grain Elevator</span> United States historic place

The Hooker Woodframe Grain Elevator is a grain elevator in Hooker, Oklahoma. The elevator was built in 1926 by the Riffe & Gilmore Co. and operated by the Wheat Pool Elevator Company. Located along the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad, which ran from the east at Beaver, Oklahoma to the west at Keyes, Oklahoma, the elevator served the local wheat industry. It was one of several built to compete with the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad elevators in the region. The elevator was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1983 and is one of two National Register of Historic Places listings in Texas County, Oklahoma located around Hooker.

The Baker Woodframe Grain Elevator is a historic grain elevator in Baker, Oklahoma. The wood frame elevator was built in 1926 along the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad by the Riffe & Gilmore Company. The elevator operated continuously from its opening until the early 1980s. Modern grain trucks proved to be too large for it in the mid 80's. Additional construction of steel bins to the west were added making the elevator an overflow storage. Over the years it has ceased operations yielding to the steel bins around it. The Riffe Gilmore location does still operate to this day, being one of very few still operating under the name, nearing 100 years of continued operations.

Straight is an unincorporated community in Texas County in the Oklahoma Panhandle, United States.

The Floris Grain Elevator, located off U.S. Route 64 in Floris, Oklahoma, was built in 1900 or 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knowles Grain Elevator</span> United States historic place

The Knowles Grain Elevator, located on U.S. Route 64 in Knowles, Oklahoma, was built in 1913. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Turpin Grain Elevator, located off U.S. Route 64 in Turpin, Oklahoma, was built in 1925. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad (BM&E) extended from Beaver, Oklahoma to Keyes, Oklahoma in the Oklahoma Panhandle, about 105 miles. It was chartered in 1912, and abandoned in 1972.

References

  1. ↑ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Turpin, Oklahoma
  3. ↑ "Turpin (CDP), Oklahoma". US Census Bureau. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Carl J. Turpin, Savings and Loan Official Here, Is Dead," The Daily Oklahoman , November 20, 1942
  5. ↑ United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form for Turpin Grain Elevator, March 18, 1983.
  6. ↑ "Panhandlers", Time magazine, July 13, 1931
  7. ↑ Hofsommer, Donovan L., Katy Northwest: The Story of a Branch Line Railroad, page 190, (Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, Colorado, 1975; reprinted by Indiana University Press, 1999.)
  8. 1 2 "Faith in Oklahoma Reaps Rich Rewards", The Daily Oklahoman , March 7, 1931
  9. ↑ "The Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad". AbandonedRails.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Lynn Scott Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The official website". James-stoddard.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  12. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Turpin Grain Elevator". National Park Service. 1982. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
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