Piedmont

City of Piedmont
—  City  —
Location of Piedmont, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 35°40′15″N 97°45′7″W / 35.67083°N 97.75194°W / 35.67083; -97.75194Coordinates: 35°40′15″N 97°45′7″W / 35.67083°N 97.75194°W / 35.67083; -97.75194
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
Counties	Canadian, Kingfisher
Area
• Total	43.9 sq mi (113.8 km2)
• Land	43.8 sq mi (113.5 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	1,191 ft (363 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	3,650
• Density	83.3/sq mi (32.2/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	73078
Area code(s)	405
FIPS code	40-58700[1]
GNIS feature ID	1096622[2]

Piedmont is a city in Canadian and Kingfisher counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and it is a part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 3,650 at the 2000 census. Piedmont is a Home Rule City served by a Council-Manager Government.

Geography

Piedmont is located at 35°40′15″N 97°45′7″W / 35.67083°N 97.75194°W / 35.67083; -97.75194 (35.670849, -97.751903)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.9 square miles (113.8 km²), of which, 43.8 square miles (113.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.23%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,650 people, 1,226 households, and 1,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 83.3 people per square mile (32.2/km²). There were 1,270 housing units at an average density of 29.0 per square mile (11.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.29% White, 0.47% African American, 2.90% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 2.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.27% of the population.

There were 1,226 households out of which 49.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.4% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.6% were non-families. 9.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city the population was spread out with 31.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $55,223, and the median income for a family was $57,121. Males had a median income of $37,273 versus $26,332 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,265. About 4.0% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.

History

The city of Piedmont was founded on land claimed during the Unassigned Land Run of April 22, 1889. Piedmont remained a small but stable rural community for the first half of the 20th century. Starting in the 1950s, the town became an increasingly popular bedroom community for those working in nearby Oklahoma City. Development of the "Northwest Expressway" (OK State Highway 3) resulted in population growth of 124%.

Education

The Piedmont school system is known for its surprising and often disputed level of excellence in education. Piedmont's school district includes 6 schools with a total staff number of 149. The school system consists of the Primary School, 3 Elementary Schools, Middle School, and High School. School teams are known by the nickname "Wildcats".

Piedmont High School won the Class C girls basketball State Championship in 1967.

The Pride of Piedmont Marching Band has won Class Championships at the Oklahoma Bandmasters' Association Championships in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Additionally, the marching band was named the Bands of America St. Louis Super Regional Class A Champion in 2008.

The Pride of Piedmont Winter Guard won a MAPAA State Championship during the 2006 season with their show "Scattered". In 2009, they won the WGPO State Championship (MAPAA was disbanded and replaced), performing a program entitled "Time After Time." In 2010, the Pride of Piedmont Middle School Winter Guard won the state championship in their class, performing a show entitled "99 Red Balloons".

The Piedmont Girls' Track Team won the Class 4A State Championship in 2009 and 2010.

Odyssey of the Mind has also brought many Regional and State Championships for the town. Several notable teams ranging from Elementary to High School level have advanced as far as world tournament.

The 2007 PHS Varsity Cheer team won Academic State Champion and was state runner-up in the co-ed division of class A.

PHS Softball has been District Champions from 2002–2007, Regional Champions from 2004–2007, State quarter finalist in 2004, State semi-finalist in 2006, and in 2004 were Top X Conference Champions.

Media

Piedmont is home to two newspapers. The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette is the oldest of the two and was established in the 1970's. Under its former news editor the paper received top honors for news writing and layout/design from the Oklahoma Press Association in 2012. The Gazette claims to have 1,600 subscribers and is located at 109 Monroe St. Piedmont is also home to the Piedmont Citizen, a newspaper and media company launched in May 2012. The Citizen's news director had is the former editor of the Gazette. The Citizen is a free publication that direct mails to every home in the Piedmont and Surrey Hills community. Unlike a typical direct mail publication, the Citizen contains a lot of news content and also manages a daily website, PiedmontDaily.com. The Piedmont Citizen is located at 1885 Piedmont Road North.

Davis Mcdermott is the only middle school stuco president to serve two terms

2011 Tornado

On May 24, 2011, the Piedmont community was hit by a major tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes^[4] in the city, caused over $20 million in property damage^[5] and killed two small children.^[6]

References

External links

• Piedmont Citizen newspaper
• Piedmont Community website
• City Government website
• Piedmont Chamber of Commerce
• Piedmont Public Schools

v t e Municipalities and communities of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States County seat: El Reno Cities El Reno Geary‡ Mustang Oklahoma City‡ Piedmont‡ Yukon Towns Calumet Okarche‡ Union City Unincorporated communities Banner Cedar Lake Concho Karns Niles Powers Richland Scott‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Municipalities and communities of Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States County seat: Kingfisher Cities Kingfisher Piedmont‡ Towns Cashion‡ Dover Hennessey Loyal Okarche‡ Unincorporated communities Alpha Altona Omega Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties