Wanette, Oklahoma

Wanette is a town in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 350 at the 2010 census, a decline of 13 percent from 402 at the 2000 census.[3] Wanette is part of the Purcell-Lexington retail trade area and is within the Greater Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area.

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture indicates that the first settlement at this location occurred in 1868, when two settlers from Kansas built a two-story cabin. Their cabin still existed as recently as 2003. Other settlers followed. The community had several different names before a post office named Wanette opened on March 19, 1894. In 1903, the town moved one mile north to be on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line between Newkirk and Pauls Valley[4]

By 1907, Wanette had a population of 739. The population peaked at 783 in 1920. The local economy was based on agriculture. Discovery of the Wanette-Asher oil field aided the economy during the 1930s, but did not prevent a population decline. The town still has an agricultural base, but by the beginning of the 21st Century had become a bedroom community for people working in Moore, Norman and Oklahoma City.[4]

Welch, Oklahoma

Welch is a town in northern Craig County, Oklahoma, United States. It is 8 miles (13 km) south of the Kansas state line, at the intersection of Oklahoma State Highways 2 and 10 with U.S. Highway 59. The population was 619 at the 2010 census, an increase of 3.7 percent from 597 in 2000.[3] It is the second largest town in its county.[4]

Welch was established in 1888 in the Cherokee Nation on land that D. B. Nigh leased from Frank Craig. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (Katy) had built a line through the area in 1871, and in 1891 it built a switch on Nigh's property, providing a shipping point for local hay and grain. The town that began to grow around the switch was named for a Katy railroad official, A. L. Welch. A post office was established in 1892. The town plat was approved in 1902, and the town incorporated in 1909. A newspaper called the Welch Watchman began publication in 1902, and continued in business, although later renamed as the Welch American, until the mid 1960s.[4]

In 2003, Welch had two convenience stores, a grocery store, a feed store, Thomas Funeral Home, the Blossom Shoppe, a meat processor, a livestock sale barn, two cafés, a new automotive shop, two saddle shops, an assisted-living retirement home, Graham Equipment Company, and a new medical office, among other enterprises.[4][a]

Wyandotte, Oklahoma

Wyandotte is a town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 333 at the 2010 census, a decline of 8.26 percent from 363 at the 2000 census.[3] The town is the tribal headquarters of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, for which the town was named.[4] Wyandotte is part of the Joplin, Missouri metropolitan area.

The Wyandotte tribe was removed to this area in 1867. The Society of Friends (Quakers) established a mission here in 1869, and the Wyandotte Tribal Council donated land for the Quakers to establish a boarding school for Seneca, Shawnee and Wyandotte children. Construction of the school began in 1871 and classes began in 1872.[4]

In the late 1930s, the Federal Government built Pensacola Dam, which created Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. Although the lake took away part of Wyandotte's land, it added business in the form of residential development and tourist industry. This caused a resumption of population growth.[4]

Wann, Oklahoma

Wann is a town in Nowata County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 125 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 5.3 percent from 132 at the 2000 census.[3] Wann is known for the "Six Flag Poles Over Wann America.[4][5]

The town of Wann has connections to both Cherokee and Eastern Delaware origins. The town and a nearby creek were originally named Coon, after a Delaware family, when the first post office opened July 26, 1895. The town was renamed Wann on October 13, 1899, to honor a local Cherokee, Robert F. Wann. The town was a station on the stage route between Coffeyville, Kansas and Bartlesville, Indian Territory. When the Katy Railroad built its track northwest of town in 1902, the townspeople relocated to be nearer the Wann railroad station.[6]

Wann had 201 inhabitants at Oklahoma's first census in 1907. Oil was discovered in the Wann Oil Pool about this time, leading the population to grow to 286 in 1910 and 404 in 1920. The boom collapsed and so did the population.[6]

Weleetka, Oklahoma

Weleetka is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Okemah, the county seat. The name is a Creek word meaning "running water."[3] The population was 998 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1.6 percent from 1,014 at the 2000 census.[4]

Weleetka is located at 35°20′44″N 96°8′5″W / 35.34556°N 96.13472°W / 35.34556; -96.13472 (35.345626, -96.134592).[5] It is 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the county seat, Okemah. The townsite is on a horseshoe bend of the North Canadian River.[3]

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,014 people, 368 households, and 235 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,463.7 people per square mile (567.4/km²). There were 450 housing units at an average density of 649.6 per square mile (251.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 60.36% White, 6.31% African American, 23.77% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 1.08% from other races, and 8.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.66% of the population.

Wynnewood, Oklahoma

Wynnewood is a city in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. It is 67 miles (108 km) south of Oklahoma City. The population was 2,212 at the 2010 U.S. census,[1] compared to 2,367 at the 2000 census. Located in what was then the Chickasaw Nation of Indian Territory, it began as a village called "Walner" in 1886, on the proposed route of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Railroad workers from Pennsylvania named the community for Wynnewood, a community outside of Philadelphia. The name became official on April 6, 1887.[4] However, relatives of the Wynne family, from Lilburn, Georgia, have photographs of the family home in Wynnwood, Oklahoma; the name may have come from the Wynne family in Lilburn, Georgia.

Wynnewood quickly became a market town for the surrounding area. In 1887, Presbyterian missionary Mary Semple Hotchkins moved her school for Chickasaw children from Cherokee Town[a] to Wynnewood. In 1901, local citizens paid for building Indianola College.[b] A promotional brochure published in 1907 called Wynnewood "the Queen City of the Famous Washita Valley." It could soon boast of having an opera house, electric lights, telephones, and the thirty-room Eskridge Hotel.[4]

The Eskridge Hotel continued in business until 1970, when it closed for good. In 1973, the Wynnewood Historical Society bought the three-story structure and converted it into a museum of local history. Hotel rooms have been decorated to depict life in Oklahoma during the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1978, the former hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[6]

Wapanucka, Oklahoma

Wapanucka (pronounced Wop´-uh-nuck´-uh) is a town in northeast Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 438 at the 2010 census, a 1.6 percent decrease from 445 at the 2000 census.[3] It is about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Tishomingo. The town name refers to the Delaware Nation and means "Eastern Land People."[4]

The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church built the Wapanucka Female Manual Labour School in 1851-2. The school, which opened in 1852, was named for a nearby creek. Local residents often called it Allen's Academy, for James S. Allen, who supervised it. Later many dubbed it Rock Academy for its impressive stone building. The school closed in 1860 after the Presbyterian Board withdrew its financial support. The Confederate forces used the building during the Civil War as a hospital and a prison. After the war the academy reopened, serving male and female students. In 1890 it became a boys' school. In 1911 it was permanently closed and the property sold. The Wapanucka Academy site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NR 72001065) in 1972.[4]

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 445 people, 174 households, and 117 families residing in the town. The population density was 673.8 people per square mile (260.3/km2). There were 208 housing units at an average density of 314.9 per square mile (121.7/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 71.46% White, 17.75% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 6.07% from other races, and 4.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.87% of the population.

OK

"OK" (spelling variations include "okay", "O.K.", "ok") is an American English word denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. "OK" is frequently used as a loanword in other languages. It has been described as the most frequently spoken or written word on the planet.[1] The origins of the word are disputed.

As an adjective, "OK" principally means "adequate" or "acceptable" as a contrast to "bad" ("The boss approved this, so it is OK to send out"); it can also mean "mediocre" when used in contrast with "good" ("The french fries were great, but the burger was just OK"). It fulfills a similar role as an adverb ("Wow, you did OK for your first time skiing!"). As an interjection, it can denote compliance ("OK, I will do that"), or agreement ("OK, that is fine"). It can mean "assent" when it is used as a noun ("the boss gave her the OK to the purchase") or, more colloquially, as a verb ("the boss OKed the purchase"). "OK", as an adjective, can express acknowledgement without approval.[2] As a versatile discourse marker or back-channeling item, it can also be used with appropriate voice tone to show doubt or to seek confirmation ("OK?", "Is that OK?").[3]

The etymology that most reference works provide today is based on a survey of the word's early history in print: a series of six articles by Allen Walker Read[5] in the journal American Speech in 1963 and 1964.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] He tracked the spread and evolution of the word in American newspapers and other written documents, and later throughout the rest of the world. He also documented controversy surrounding OK and the history of its folk etymologies, both of which are intertwined with the history of the word itself. Read argues that, at the time of the expression's first appearance in print, a broader fad existed in the United States of "comical misspellings" and of forming and employing acronyms, themselves based on colloquial speech patterns:

Wynona, Oklahoma

Wynona is an incorporated town in central Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was founded by a local Osage-Cherokee rancher, Antoine Rogers, in 1903.[3] The population was 437 at the 2010 census, a 17.7 percent decline from 531 at the 2000 census.[4]

An Osage-Cherokee rancher, Antoine Rogers, settled in the area that would become the town of Wynona in 1871, after the Osage tribe had been removed from Kansas to Indian Territory by the U. S. Government. In 1903, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (also known as the MK&T or Katy railroad) built a line across Rogers's land. A store was built adjacent to the track, and that event is considered the establishment of Wynona, which soon became a cattle shipping point.[3]

The Osage Townsite Company began development of the town in 1909. By the end of the year, the population had grown from 20 to over 150 residents. The first local newspaper, a weekly named the Wynona Enterprise, appeared in August 1909.[a][3]

Wardville, Oklahoma

Wardville is a small unincorporated community in northern Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States, along State Highway 131 [1] 14 miles northeast of Coalgate, Oklahoma. The post office was established February 6, 1902 under the name Herbert, Oklahoma. The town was named after Herbert Ward, who was the youngest son of the towns first postmaster, Henry Pleasant Ward.[2] The name of the town was changed to Wardville on July 18, 1907. Wardville was named for the before mentioned Henry Pleasant Ward, who served in the territorial House of Representatives and Senate and was an Atoka County judge.[3][4] The Wardville Post Office closed in 2007.