Woods County, Oklahoma
Woods County, Oklahoma
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2297238

Woods County, Oklahoma

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2297238

Woods County, Oklahoma

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Woods County, Oklahoma

Woods County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,624. Its county seat is Alva. The county is named after Samuel Newitt Wood, a renowned Kansas populist.

The Burnham site in Woods County is a pre-Clovis site, that is, an archaeological site dating before 11,000 years ago. The region of Woods County, Oklahoma, was home to the Antelope Creek Phase of Southern Plains Villagers, a precontact culture of Native Americans, who are related to the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.

An early European explorer of the area now contained within Woods County was George C. Sibley, who traveled through in 1811. He visited a salt formation near the present town of Freedom, Oklahoma, then followed the Mountain Fork of the Arkansas River southeastward to the Great Salt Plains. In 1843, Nathan Boone traveled along the Cimarron River.

The area was part of Cherokee Outlet, guaranteed to the Cherokee Nation under the Treaty of New Echota. It later became important for cattle ranching. The Dodge City and Red Fork Trail, a branch of the Chisholm Trail followed the north bank of the Cimarron River en route to Kansas. The U. S. Government acquired the Cherokee Outlet under Congressional Acts in 1889, 1891 and 1893, and divided the area into counties. One of these was designated M County, prior to opening the area for settlement. The Secretary of the Interior designated Alva as the county seat. M County was renamed Woods County by a ballot measure on November 6, 1894. The name was one of three put forth on the ballot, and was the Populists party's submission to honor Samuel Newitt Wood, a Kansas Populist. Despite the name being misspelled on the ballot, the election committee "decided to keep the s for euphony sake". Woods County became part of Oklahoma Territory.

The Constitutional Convention of 1906 created Major County and Alfalfa County from southern and eastern parts of Woods County and added a part of Woodward County to Woods County.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,290 square miles (3,300 km2), of which 1,286 square miles (3,330 km2) is land and 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) (0.3%) is water. It is located along the Kansas border.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 8,878 people, 3,533 households, and 2,133 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile (2.7 people/km2). There were 4,478 housing units at an average density of 3.5 units per square mile (1.4/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 88.4% white, 3.3% black or African American, 2.4% Native American, 0.9% Asian, less than 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.3% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. 4.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,533 households, out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 32.3% of households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. 8.2% of the population was institutionalized The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.82.

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