Woodford, Oklahoma Explained

Woodford
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Oklahoma#USA
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within the state of Oklahoma
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Oklahoma
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Carter
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population As Of:2000
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation Ft:929
Coordinates:34.3386°N -97.2844°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP codes
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:1099983

Woodford is an unincorporated community located in Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The townsite plat and cemetery are located within Section 34, Township 2 South, Range 1 West of the Indian Meridian. The zipcode is 73401.[1] Woodford has its own telephone exchange, serviced by the Chickasaw Telephone Company.[2] The Woodford area had its own school district in the past, but it was closed as the community dwindled in population. Students in the area today attend school in the nearby towns of Springer, Lone Grove, or Fox.

The Woodford Shale, a prominent oil and gas source rock and unconventional reservoir across the Midcontinent and Permian Basin, which outcrops nearby, was named for the community.[3]

History

A post office was established at Woodford, Indian Territory on February 4, 1884. It was named for Noah L. Woodford, a prominent Chickasaw Indian.[4]

At the time of its founding, Woodford was located in Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation.[5]

A history of Woodford was compiled by the Oklahoma history class at Woodford High School in 1930 (unpublished manuscript).[6]

The population of Woodford had already started to decline by 1930. In 1940, the census enumerated 138 residents. The school district and at least one church closed in the 1950s. The last remaining store closed in the late 1980s. The community still supports a volunteer fire department, however. Woodford is included in the book "Ghost Towns of Oklahoma".[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code. 2012-02-15. United States Postal Service. 2012.
  2. Web site: Chickasaw Telephone Company.
  3. Taff . Joseph A. . 1902 . Atoka folio, Indian Territory . Folios of the Geologic Atlas . en . 10.3133/gf79. 1969.1/3402 . free .
  4. George H. Shirk. Oklahoma Place Names (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 225.
  5. Charles Goins. Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), p. 105.
  6. Web site: History of Woodford and the Surrounding Community - Wikibooks, open books for an open world . en.wikibooks.org.
  7. Morris, John W. "Ghost Towns of Oklahoma" University of Oklahoma Press, 1978.