Yukon, Oklahoma

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement

Yukon is a city in eastern Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 23,630 at the 2020 census. Founded in the 1890s, the town was named in reference to a gold rush in Yukon Territory, Canada, at the time. Historically, Yukon served as an urban center for area farmers and the site of a milling operation. Currently, it is primarily a residential community for people who work in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area.

History

Yukon was founded by A.N. Spencer in 1891<ref name="okhis">Savage, Cynthia. "Yukon," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society. Accessed April 17, 2015.</ref> and was named for the Yukon River which flows from British Columbia, across the Yukon, and into Alaska.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Spencer, a cattleman from Texas turned railroad builder, was working on a line from El Reno to Arkansas when he decided to build the town.<ref name="city">About Yukon Template:Webarchive, City of Yukon website Template:Webarchive (accessed May 4, 2010).</ref> Spencer filed the plat on the townsite on February 14, 1891.<ref name="city"/> He had agreed to do so and lay the train tracks through the town in exchange for half of the lots, which were owned by Minnie Taylor and Luther S. Morrison.<ref name="okhis"/> Taylor and Morrison had acquired the land in the 1889 land run.<ref name="okhis"/> Spencer also bought two quarter sections south of Main Street from Joseph Carson and his sister, Josephine.<ref name="city"/> Spencer and his brother, Lewis, named the town after the Yukon Territory of Canada, where a gold rush was booming at the time.

The first houses and businesses were located on the north side of Spencer Avenue (now Main Street) and present Fourth and Fifth streets.<ref name="city"/> The Canadian County Courier reported on April 1, 1891, that the city had 25 homes, one bank, two real estate offices, two restaurants, a lumber yard, a hardware store, a grocery, a livery stable, two saloons, a blacksmith shop, a printing office, a barber shop, and a second barber shop "about completed."<ref name="city"/>

The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Company laid its track, causing the abandonment of Frisco, which had a population of 1,000 at the time.<ref name="okhis"/> Beginning in about 1898, Yukon began to attract immigrants from Bohemia. Following World War I and the dissolution of Bohemia into Czechoslovakia and Moravia, the immigrants became known as "Czechs."<ref name="okhis"/> Yukon is known as the "Czech Capital of Oklahoma".<ref name="okhis"/>

The town voted to incorporate in 1901<ref name="Yukon Oklahoma">Template:Cite web</ref> and voted to add water works, sewer, and electricity from the mill in 1910.<ref name="city"/> Businesses remained clustered on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth, until the 1920s, when they began to locate in other parts of the town.<ref name="city"/> The interurban was built from Oklahoma City to El Reno in 1911.<ref name="city"/> It closed in 1940.<ref name="city"/> Paved roads didn't arrive until the construction of State Highway 66 in 1926.<ref name="city"/>

Yukon thrived as the urban center for area farmers and had an organized library by 1905 and a dedicated library building in 1927.<ref name="okhis"/> A small milling operation, the Yukon Mill and Grain Company, opened in 1893 and grew to shipping flour and feeds throughout the south and exporting them overseas by 1915.<ref name="city"/> The milling operation was owned by the Kroutil and Dobry families, but the Dobry family built their own mill and parted ways with the Kroutils in the 1930s.<ref name="city"/> The mills were sold to larger corporations; Shawnee Mills purchased the Yukon Mill and Grain Company and Mid-Continent purchased the Dobry Mills.<ref name="okhis"/> Paying homage to that history, the students of Yukon High School are known as "Millers", and their mascot is "The Miller Man".

In 1949, Yukon garnered national media attention because of the plight of Grady the Cow, who was stuck inside a silo for four days.<ref name="Reading-Eagle-7-25-1961">Associated Press. "Grady Dies; Famous As Cow in Silo," Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania), July 25, 1961. Accessed April 30, 2015.</ref><ref name="Oklahoman-1-6-1997">Sutter. Ellie. "Silo Landmark Torn Down Grady the Cow Only a Memory," NewsOK (website of The Oklahoman), January 6, 1997. Accessed April 30, 2015.</ref>

From a population of 830 in 1907, Yukon grew to 1,990 by 1950.<ref name="okhis"/> By 1960, the population registered at 3,076.<ref name="okhis"/> Oklahoma City annexed nearly all of the land around Yukon during the 1960s. This brought a boom in residential construction and commercial development. The town had grown to approximately 22,000 residents in 2005.<ref name="city"/>

Geography

Yukon is located in east central Canadian County. The western boundary of Oklahoma City is at the county line 3.5 miles east of the center of Yukon.<ref>Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1st ed., 1998, p.42 Template:Isbn</ref> The town is traversed by Route 66 and state highways 4 and 92. It lies just north of Interstate 40. Downtown Oklahoma City is Template:Convert to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 0.21%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

Template:US Census population

As of the 2010 census, there were 22,709 people, 8,744 households, and 6,390 families residing in the city.<ref name="census2010">United States Census Demographic Profile of Yukon, Oklahoma, at U.S. Census website (cite does not allow direct link). (accessed September 5, 2013)</ref> The population density was Template:Convert.<ref name="census2010"/> There were 9,231 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census2010"/> The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% white, 1.2% African American, 3.7% Native American, 2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races.<ref name="census2010"/> Hispanic or Latino of any race made up 4.9% of the population.<ref name="census2010"/>

There were 8,744 households, out of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families.<ref name="amcomsurvey">2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for Yukon, Oklahoma, at U.S. Census website (cite does not allow direct link). (accessed September 5, 2013)</ref> Single individuals living alone accounted for 21% of households and individuals 65 years of age or older living alone accounted for 9.2% of households.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/> The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.97.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/>

In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.2% under the age of 18, 59.9% from 18 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/> The median age was 37.7 years.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/> The population was 52.8% female and 47.2% male.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/>

The median income for a household in the city was $59,803, and the median income for a family was $66,635.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/> Males had a median income of $49,836 versus $34,717 for females.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/> About 6.5% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line.<ref name="amcomsurvey"/>

Arts and culture

Czech Hall in Yukon

The Czech Hall, a national and state historic site, is devoted to preserving Czech customs, heritage, and culture. Community events include the Czech Festival, which takes place on the first Saturday of October, and the Chisholm Trail and Crawfish Festival, which takes place on the first Saturday of June. In late August Yukon also holds a country music festival, called "Rock the Route."

Government

Yukon has a Council-Manager government. This form of government combines elected officials with an appointed manager.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All authority to set policy rests with a nonpartisan Mayor and City Council. The governing body in turn hires a nonpartisan manager who has broad authority to run the organization. Yukon is divided into four geographical wards and one at-large ward. A representative from each Ward are the five members of the City Council. They are elected to four-year terms. The voters of each Ward elect a council member to represent them and the Mayor is elected yearly by council. The Mayor and Council appoint a City Manager to serve as the city's chief administrative official. The Mayor and Council also appoint the City Attorney and Municipal Court judges.

Education

The Yukon Public Schools district covers most of Yukon.<ref name=CensusSDmap2020>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref> It includes 11 schools, served a community of 36,938 people, and encompasses 66.10 square miles of land and 2.18 square miles of water.<ref name="usayukon">USA.com Profile of Yukon Public Schools (accessed September 5, 2013)</ref> The school district offers pre-school through secondary school education.<ref name="usayukon"/> The school served 8,781 students in the 2017–2018 school year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parts of Yukon are zoned to Banner Public School and some other parts are zoned to Riverside Public School .<ref name=CensusSDmap2020/>

The high school has won state titles in softball in 1986, 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2010; in boys basketball in 1974 and 1979; in baseball in 1982, 1996, and 1997; and cheerleading in 2002.

Notable people

Garth Brooks water tower

See also

References

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