Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
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Norman, Oklahoma

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2274892

Norman, Oklahoma

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Norman, Oklahoma

Norman (/ˈnɔːrmən/) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 census. It is the most populous city in and the county seat of Cleveland County and the second-most populous city in the Oklahoma City Metro Area after the state capital, Oklahoma City, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Norman.

The city was settled during the Land Run of 1889, which opened the former Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory to American pioneer settlement. It was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area's initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. Norman has prominent higher education and related research industries, as it is home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, with nearly 32,000 students. The university is well known for its sporting events by teams under the banner of the nickname "Sooners", with over 85,000 people routinely attending football games. The university is home to several museums, including the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, which contains the largest collection of French Impressionist art ever given to an American university, as well as the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

Norman's National Weather Center houses a unique collection of university, state, federal, and private-sector organizations that work together to improve the understanding of events related to the Earth's atmosphere. Norman lies within Tornado Alley, a geographic region colloquially known for frequent and intense tornadic activity. The Storm Prediction Center, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that delivers forecasts for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other high-impact hazardous weather in the contiguous United States, is located at the National Weather Center. Additionally, research is conducted at the co-located National Severe Storms Laboratory, which operates various experimental weather radars and develops innovative tools, applications, and techniques aimed at improving forecasts and warnings of severe weather.

The Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Before the American Civil War, the U.S. government began relocating the Five Civilized Tribes—the five Native American tribes that the United States officially recognized via treaty—to Oklahoma. Treaties of 1832 and 1833 assigned the area known today as Norman to the Creek Nation.

After the Civil War, the Creeks were accused of aiding the Confederacy; as a result they ceded the region back to the United States in 1866. In the early 1870s, the federal government undertook a survey of these unassigned lands. Abner Ernest Norman, a 23-year-old surveyor from Kentucky, was hired to oversee part of this project. Norman's work crew set up camp near what is today the corner of Classen Boulevard and Lindsey Street; it was there that the men, perhaps jokingly, carved a sign on an elm tree that read "Norman's Camp," in honor of their young boss. In 1887, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway began service to the area, which was later opened to settlement as part of the Land Run of 1889; early settlers decided to keep the name "Norman."

On April 22, 1889, that first Land Run in what would become the state of Oklahoma saw the founding of Norman, with at least 150 residents spending the night in makeshift campsites, and by the next morning a downtown was already being constructed. Almost immediately two prominent Norman businessmen, former Purcell railroad freight agent Delbert Larsh and railroad station chief cashier Thomas Waggoner, began lobbying for the territorial government to locate its first university in Norman. The two were interested in growing the city and had reasoned that, rather than try to influence territorial lawmakers to locate the heavily contested territory capital in Norman, it made sense to attempt to secure the state's first university instead (a move that would be far less controversial). On December 19, 1890, Larsh and Waggoner were successful with the passage of Territorial Council Bill 114, establishing the University of Oklahoma in Norman about 18 years before Oklahoma statehood.

The City of Norman was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891.

The new Norman was a sundown town. African Americans were not allowed to live within the city limits or stay overnight until the early 1960s, nor could they study at the University of Oklahoma. In 2020, the Norman City Council issued an apology.

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