Chickasha

Chickasha, Oklahoma
—  City  —
Location of Chickasha, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 35°2′18″N 97°56′46″W / 35.03833°N 97.94611°W / 35.03833; -97.94611
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Grady
Area
- Total	18.1 sq mi (46.9 km2)
- Land	18.1 sq mi (46.8 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	1,093 ft (333 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	15,850
- Density	877.5/sq mi (338.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	405
FIPS code	40-13950[1]
GNIS feature ID	1091277[2]

Chickasha (pronounced /ˈtʃɪkəʃeɪ/) is a city in and the county seat, business and employment center of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States.^[3] The population was 15,850 at the 2000 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and hosts an annual Festival of Light celebration located at Shannon Springs Park. The city is named for, and strongly connected to Native American heritage as Chickasha (Chikashsha) is the Choctaw word for Chickasaw.

Geography

Chickasha is located at 35°2′18″N 97°56′46″W / 35.03833°N 97.94611°W / 35.03833; -97.94611 (35.038431, -97.946021)^[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.1 square miles (46.9 km²), of which, 18.1 square miles (46.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.28%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 15,850 people, 6,434 households, and 4,111 families residing in the city. The population density was 877.5 people per square mile (338.9/km²). There were 7,424 housing units at an average density of 411.0/sq mi (158.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.20% White, 8.45% African American, 4.73% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.52% from other races, and 3.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.76% of the population.

There were 6,434 households out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,369, and the median income for a family was $33,621. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $19,889 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,797. About 13.1% of families and 18.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over.

The Festival of Light

The annual festival takes place at the 43-acre (170,000 m²) Shannon Springs park and opens nightly from around Thanksgiving to the end of December. Concessions, carriage rides, pictures with Santa, and shopping are available. The Festival of Light has received many prestigious awards over the years including Regional Event of the Year, A.B.A. Top 100 Event, National Top 25 Holiday Event, Festival of the Year, Best Community Festival Event and Best Place to Take Out of Town Visitors. The Festival has been featured statewide on Discover Oklahoma and ranked as a Top Place to Visit by Fine Living Network (2004) and has also been designated as an official 2007 Oklahoma Centennial Event. Over 140 businesses and clubs sponsor the event in various ways. The installation of lights in 290 trees, eight miles (13 km) of walk-ways, bridges, arbors, gazebos and buildings begins in September; however, it takes through March to get the lights taken down and stored away. More than 1,200 volunteers donate time and skill, and now Display Sponsors have reached the 100 mark. The park has over 3.5 million lights and the crystal pedestrian bridge boasts over 9000 lights alone! It draws together over a thousand local volunteers and more than 300,000 visitors from across the United States. Official Website

USAO Spring Triad

The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) hosts an annual festival, The Spring Triad, which is made up of the Montmartre Chalk Art Festival, the Droverstock music festival, and the Scholastic Meet. The event is usually held during the beginning of April. The Art Festival is held along the oval drive in front of Te Ata Memorial Auditorium (previously known as Troutt Hall) where over 700 artists compete in a chalk art contest. Droverstock features over 12 hours of live music from various bands of all styles and genres. There are also many games, rides, and activities associated with the festival. And for over 27 years the Scholastic Meet has attracted close to 1,800 students from over 50 Oklahoma counties competing in academic disciplines such as math, science, music, history and other subjects. The competition is the largest academic meet in the state. Overall, the day-long event attracts thousands into the community.

Muscle Car Ranch Swap Meet and Concert

The Muscle Car Ranch located on the south edge of Chickasha hosts and annual swap meet and concert, which is held in August. The Ranch, located on 70 acres (280,000 m²) of a 1900s Dairy farm, features over hundreds of nostalgic advertisement signs and memorabilia representing the last 75 years of American history. The concert has featured Rock & Roll hall of fame groups like the Byrds, Grass Roots, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Jefferson Airplane, The Lovin’ Spoonful, FireFall, John Conlee, and Dr Hook and Bad Company. Official Website

History

Chickasha was founded by Hobart Johnstone Whitley, a land developer, banker, farmer and Rock Island Railroad executive.

Notable people from Chickasha

• Alexander, Stephen -American football tight end who currently plays for the Denver Broncos.
• Allen, Chet, -actor, co-starred in NBC's The Troubleshooters (1959-1960)
• Chapman, Bill G. -advocate for the blind, author
• Criswell, W.A. -served as a pastor of the First Baptist Church and later served as president for the Southern Baptist Convention.
• Fisher, Ada Lois Sipuel -African-American lawyer, administrator and activist; see: Sipuel v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Okla.
• Fisher, Shug - Western film and TV character actor, singer, songwriter, comedian and member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
• Goodwin, Emmett -former chief of police in Chickasha who was murdered by a fellow officer.
• Kilgore, Merle -country music personality.
• Little, Cleavon -actor and comedian.
• McCracken, Jack "Jumping Jack" -basketball player in 1930s and 1940s and widely regarded as one of the greatest Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) players of all time.
• McNeill, Don -American tennis player.
• Meacham, Scott -Oklahoma politician.
• Moody, Orville -American professional golfer.
• Pace, Lee -Actor
• Rayburn, Sam -defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles (2003-2006)and San Francisco 49ers (2007-present).
• Smith, Leon Polk -painter.
• Bill Wallace -Award winning children's author and teacher/principal in the Chickasha public schools
• Wooldridge, Dean -prominent engineer in the aerospace industry
• Sinjin Moore -guitarist and background singer for the pop-punk band 80D

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• City of Chickasha Website
• Chickasha Chamber of Commerce
• Chickasha City Directory
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Chickasha

• Chickasha, Oklahoma is at coordinates 35°02′18″N 97°56′46″W / 35.038431°N 97.946021°W / 35.038431; -97.946021 (Chickasha, Oklahoma)Coordinates: 35°02′18″N 97°56′46″W / 35.038431°N 97.946021°W / 35.038431; -97.946021 (Chickasha, Oklahoma)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Grady County, Oklahoma County seat: Chickasha Cities Blanchard‡ | Chickasha | Minco | Tuttle Towns Alex | Amber | Bradley | Bridge Creek | Ninnekah | Norge | Pocasset | Rush Springs | Verden Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties