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70-663: The area is anchored economically by Enid , which also contains the region's largest commercial airport. Other important cities include Guymon , Ponca City , Woodward , and Alva . Northwestern Oklahoma became part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase and through the entrance of Texas into the Union in 1845 as a slave state . At the time, federal law, based on the Missouri Compromise , prohibited slavery in

140-620: A Republican stronghold since its days as part of Oklahoma Territory, owing to the influence of settlers from neighboring Kansas. Enid was named one of the top 10 most conservative cities in America in 2021 with over 60% of voters registering as Republicans. Several politicians have called Enid home, including Oklahoma Territory's last governor Frank Frantz ; U.S. Representative Page Belcher ; US Congressman and former Enid mayor, Milton C. Garber ; Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb ; U.S. Representative George H. Wilson ; and James Yancy Callahan ,

210-733: A club. The Marshallese United Church of Christ is in Enid. The neighborhoods of Southern Heights and East Park are historically Black neighborhoods in Enid. African-Americans have lived in Enid since the time of the September 1893 Land Run. Members of the Black community soon founded two Baptist churches in 1893, Grayson Missionary Baptist Church, and the First Baptist Church. St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church would follow in 1909. In 1996 Enid's First Missionary Baptist Church burned down in

280-534: A fire during a spate of hate crimes across the American South. The community came together and rebuilt the church. The area near Government Springs Park became an area of Black settlement, coalescing beside these nearby institutions of community life. Prominent citizens of the Black community in early Enid included attorney Devotion Banks, Reverend Louis Johnson, Doctor Ollie Penny, Reverend Moses Ireland, and Reverend William Humphrey. Many Black citizens belonged to

350-503: A monument bearing a quote from his "I have a dream" speech was erected on the property. An annual march is held in Enid honoring Dr. King. In 2020 residents of Enid participated in protests for Black Lives Matter. In 2023 Ward 1 elected City Commissioner Judson Blevins, a white nationalist organizer with Identity Evropa, who marched at the Unite the Right rally . Local NAACP leader Lanita Norwood

420-949: A number of private Christian schools, including St. Paul's Lutheran School, Oklahoma Bible Academy, St. Joseph Catholic School, and Emmannuel Christian School. Enid has two Catholic congregations: St. Francis Xavier, founded in 1893, and St. Gregory, founded in 1971. St. Francis Xavier's Bishop Theophile Meerschaert was responsible for founding Calvary Catholic Cemetery in 1898. Enid is home to several Protestant churches. It has four Lutheran congregations: Immanuel, founded in 1899, Trinity, founded in 1901, St. Paul, founded in 1909, and Redeemer, founded in 1934. Enid has several historically Black churches, including St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church, First Missionary Baptist Church, and West Side Church of God in Christ (COGIC). The Southern Heights Ministerial Alliance brings local Black clergy together. Enid has two churches serving its Korean population,

490-487: A sports complex with football fields complete with lights, two softball complexes with lights, and two tennis complexes made up of four lighted courts each. The City of Enid maintains 25 additional parks or facilities including two splash pads, a pool, a bike park and a bird sanctuary. The Great Salt Plains State Park , Great Salt Plains Lake , and the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge are to

560-557: A testament to the Southwest Tablelands ecoregion that dominates the area. Canyons and grasslands, such as the Rita Blanca National Grassland , help to give Northwest Oklahoma a distinctive Southwest -like landscape, differing from other parts of the state. Black Mesa , the state's highest peak at 4,973 feet, is part of a large range of mesas in the panhandle which stretch into New Mexico. Another mesa range,

630-569: Is a founding member of the Enid Social Justice Committee which has actively protested against Blevins, and initiated a recall election for April 2024. Blevins was defeated in the recall, replaced by Cheryl Patterson. When Enid participated in the City Beautiful movement in the 1920s, Frank Iddings wrote the city song, "Enid, The City Beautiful". "You're right in the center where the best wheat grows and you've got your share of

700-698: Is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma . It is the county seat of Garfield County . As of the 2020 census , the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893 , and is named after Enid, a character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King . In 1991, the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the " purple martin capital of Oklahoma." Enid holds

770-594: The Brown v. Board of Education ruling. In 1947 despite having no Black classmates, students at Phillips formed a chapter of the NAACP. The first instance of integration in Enid’s public school system occurred in June 1955 when two Black high school students, Leonard Harrison and Ralph Ballard, attended summer school at Emerson Junior High. Enid High School accepted its first Black students in

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840-514: The Cherokee trail of tears . Historically, the area was a hunting ground for the Wichita , Osage , and Kiowa tribes. The Chisholm Trail , stage coach lines, mail routes, and railroads passed through stations in the town which was then known as Skeleton. In summer 1889, M.A. Low, a Rock Island official, visited the local railroad station then under construction, and inquired about its name. Disliking

910-626: The Department of the Interior moved the government site 3 mi (5 km) south of the station prior to the land run, which was then called South Enid. During the run, due to the Rock Island's refusal to stop, people leaped from the trains to stake their claim in the government-endorsed site. By the afternoon of the run, Enid's population was estimated at 12,000 people located in the Enid's 80-acre (320,000 m ) town plat. Enid's original plat in 1893

980-601: The Enid Daily Eagle editorial staff praised the action. The mayor routinely received death threats for his public support of the action. Some Black residents resisted, returning to town only to met by threats from the Klan. By 1922 at least ten former residents of the neighborhood had moved to the neighborhood by Government Springs Park. The Klan held additional parades through downtown Enid in 1922 and 1924. At least two Black men were tarred and feathered in separate incidents by

1050-568: The Glass (or Gloss) Mountains , sits in the center of Northwest Oklahoma, just south of the Cimarron River along Highway 412 . Great Salt Plains Lake , one of the largest inland salt lakes in the United States, is located near Alva . 36°30′N 99°00′W  /  36.5°N 99.0°W  / 36.5; -99.0 Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( / ˈ iː n ɪ d / EE-nid )

1120-707: The Land Run of 1893 , also known as the Cherokee Outlet Opening or the Cherokee Strip Land Run , marked the opening to settlement of the Cherokee Outlet in the Oklahoma Territory 's fourth and largest land run . It was part of what would later become the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907. The Cherokee Outlet was one of three areas the Cherokee Nation had acquired after resettlement to lands in present-day eastern Oklahoma in 1835 as part of

1190-544: The Treaty of New Echota . Starting with the publication of a Chicago Tribune article in 1879, a growing movement of those pressing for the opening up to homesteading of the unoccupied Unassigned Lands located in Indian Territory – people known as Boomers – began to gain widespread popular political clout. The Boomer's views had already prevailed in convincing the government to open up public domain lands to settlement in

1260-530: The 1880s culminating in the Land Run of 1889 . After the issuance of Benjamin Harrison's Presidential Proclamation, which forbade all grazing leases in the Cherokee Outlet after October 2 of 1890 effectively eliminated tribal profits from cattle leases, the Cherokee came to an agreement to sell these lands to the government at a price ranging from $ 1.40 to $ 2.50 per acre the following year. Part of their agreement

1330-669: The 1980s, when competition with the local mall and economic factors led Enid's downtown area to suffer. Since 1994, Enid's Main Street program has worked to refurbish historic buildings, boost the local economy, and initiate local events such as first Friday concerts and holiday celebrations on the town square. Companies with corporate headquarters in Enid: Companies with operations in Enid: Historical companies in Enid: In 2020

1400-645: The 20th-best minor league farm team ever by Minor League Baseball . They had a 104–27 record in the 1922 season. The Harvesters, along with their earlier counterparts the Enid Railroaders , were members of the Western Association . During the 1951 season, the team was an affiliate of the Houston Buffaloes , and were known as the Enid Buffaloes to match. Land Run of 1893 In U.S. history ,

1470-522: The 21st century many elderly Marshallese came for medical care, and many of them died at younger ages than other elderly people due to health problems stemming from fallout from the nuclear tests and from poor diets; the nuclear tests made traditional Marshallese food inaccessible due to radiation, so U.S. junk food rations became a major element in the Marshallese diet. Additionally, since 1996, Marshallese citizens were unable to get health programs offered by

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1540-691: The 32 sites on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Garfield County, Oklahoma . Government Springs Park , also known as North Government Springs Park, was Enid's first park. Originally a watering hole on the Old Chisholm Cattle Trail, the park is built around a lake and includes the Dillingham Gardens, picnic pavilions, playground equipment, a performing arts pavilion, and more. South Government Springs Park contains

1610-474: The 70-mile pipeline with 223 parcels of land accepted of the 230 total land parcels needed for the pipeline portion of the project. Enid is home to the annual Tri-State Music Festival which was started in 1932 by Russell L. Wiley, who was Phillips University band director from 1928 to 1934. From 1933 to 1936, Edwin Franko Goldman headlined the festival. The festival takes place each spring in Enid. In

1680-739: The Black community organized sit-ins and held meetings between the Enid Negro Chamber of Commerce and the Enid Restauranteurs Association, but the effort failed. The restaurant owners used laws against loitering as grounds to notify police. Another sit-in occurred in May 1963 prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act which integrated restaurants nationwide. Another historically Black neighborhood nicknamed "Two Street" existed between South Second Street and South Grand Avenue near

1750-471: The Cherokee Strip Days and Parade. The Humphrey Heritage Village next to the museum offers visitors a chance to see the original Enid land office and other historical buildings. Visitors to Enid's Railroad Museum of Oklahoma , located in the former Santa Fe Railway Depot, can see railroad memorabilia, explore historical trains, and watch model railroads in action. The Midgley Museum is operated by

1820-657: The Enid Jewish Chautauqua held programs as early as 1910. Enid is the home of two Masonic Lodges, the Enid Lodge #80 and the Garfield Lodge #501. The Enid Lodge has many Jewish members. In 2014 Enid was the city with the fourth largest Marshallese population in the United States. A push factor from the Marshall Islands was nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll . Missionaries from Phillips University visited

1890-463: The Enid Korean Church of Grace and Peace United Methodist. Iglesia Cristiana El Shaddai, a Disciples of Christ congregation founded in 2001, serves the area Hispanic community. Enid Faith Ways Church is LGBTQ friendly. Enid also has a small Bahá’í congregation that often meets in congregants' homes and serves some of Enid's Marshallese population. Historically, between 1925 and 1930 Enid

1960-571: The Enid Masonic Lodge #80 and features the rock collection of the Midgley family. Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse, located in the former Alton Mercantile building in downtown Enid, is an arts and sciences museum, which features Adventure Quest, an outdoor science-themed playground. Simpson's Old Time Museum is a Western-themed museum by local filmmakers Rick and Larry Simpson. The pair closed their downtown business, Simpsons Mercantile, in 2006 to convert

2030-483: The Klan in Enid in the 1920s, including Ed Warner and Walter O'Banion. There were additional reports of Klan activity in Enid in 1979 and 1985. On September 21, 1979 an 18 year old Black Enid High School student and football player named Mitchell Lee Sanford was hung from a tree. While local police ruled it a suicide, the FBI investigated it as a hate crime due to a recent resurgence in local Klan activity. Enid's chapter of

2100-615: The Klan justified collective punishment of the residents in retaliation for Crosslin's injury, issuing orders for residents of the Two Street district to leave Garfield County. Local police refused to protect Black residents and ordered them to obey the Klan. On October 26, 1921 a portion of Enid's Black population was driven out by the Klan. An estimated 1,000 members of the Klan held a car parade at midnight, and nearly two dozen Black citizens left town. Local Reverend A.G. Smith, Mayor William H. Ryan, former Deputy Sheriff Lon Crosslin, and

2170-504: The Knights of Pythias fraternal organization. Booker T. Washington school was founded in 1896 with a brick school house erected in 1901. The school provided elementary through high school education for Black residents. Washington school was joined by Douglas elementary from 1918 to 1920 and George Washington Carver elementary in 1949. Having previously denied access to Black university students, Phillips University changed its policies after

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2240-453: The Marshall Islands, and Marshallese students at Phillips were among the first settlers from the island country. There were also significant numbers who worked at food plants from Advance Foods, now Tyson Foods . There were others who worked at Walmart . The Compact of Free Association allowed Marshallese to begin moving to Enid sometime circa 1987. In 2022 there were 2,800 Marshallese in Enid. Initially Enid's Marshallese were younger. By

2310-506: The NAACP was founded in 1941 by local educator Lewis J. Umstead who served as its president until 1952. The group organized a freedom rally in 1963. The NAACP has held multiple Oklahoma state conventions in Enid. Enid has named streets for notable Black citizens, including opera singer Leona Mitchell in 1981 and professional athlete Lydell Carr in 2023. In 1990 Enid named its municipal building for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and in 1991

2380-445: The Rock Island railroad tracks. The area was considered a Red Light district with gambling halls, saloons, and brothels. Despite statewide alcohol prohibition in Oklahoma, liquor sales were rampant across town. On July 31, 1917 Judge John C. Moore ordered that residents be evicted and the buildings condemned. Enid appointed its first Black policeman, Henry Backstrom, in the 1920s. Mr. Backstrom had previously served as principal of

2450-496: The Square. You never saw so many rigs or so many people. Enid experienced a "golden age" following the discovery of oil in the region in the 1910s and continuing until World War II . Enid's economy boomed as a result of the growing oil, wheat, and rail industries, and its population grew steadily throughout the early 20th century in conjunction with a period of substantial architectural development and land expansion. Enid's downtown had

2520-476: The Washington school for 11 years. Backstrom was acquitted after killing Fred Williams, a Black resident of Two Street, in the line of duty. He continued to serve for six years before studying at Langston University, and returning to the education field. Former Deputy Sheriff Lon Crosslin was injured during a gunfight while attempting to prevent a jewelry store robbery. Crosslin killed the two Black suspects, but

2590-700: The area, creating what is now the Enid Terminal Grain Elevators Historic District , and earning Enid the titles of "Wheat Capital of Oklahoma", "Queen Wheat City of Oklahoma," and "Wheat Capital of the United States" Located in Northwestern Oklahoma , Enid sits at the eastern edge of the Great Plains . It is located 70 miles (110 km) north of Oklahoma City . According to the United States Census Bureau ,

2660-469: The best locations, especially in the eastern third of the Outlet and at many of the townsites. With demand for the land far outstripping that which was available, a majority of the participants did not actually secure a claim for themselves. The counties of Kay , Grant , Woods , Woodward , Garfield , Noble , and Pawnee were named following the run. Prior to the run, these seven counties had been assigned

2730-435: The building into a movie set and museum. George's Antique Auto Museum features the sole existing Geronimo car, once manufactured in Enid. The Leona Mitchell Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum records the history and culture of African Americans and Native Americans, featuring exhibits on Enid's former black schools (George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington), and opera star Leona Mitchell . Enid also has 26 of

2800-528: The city has a total area of 74.1 square miles (192 km ), of which 74.0 square miles (192 km ) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km ) (0.12%) is water. Enid's weather conditions are characterized by hot summers, cold, often snowy winters, and thunderstorms in the spring, which can produce tornadoes. The greatest one-day precipitation total by an official rain gauge in Oklahoma was in Enid when 15.68 inches (398.3 mm) fell on October 11, 1973. Temperatures can fall below 0 °F or −17.8 °C in

2870-405: The city of Enid began a multi-million dollar project to lay 70 miles of pipeline to transport 10 million gallons of water a day from Kaw Lake to a booster pump station in Enid. The pipeline is expected to provide a water to the city of Enid for the next 40–50 years. The city of Enid received $ 205 million in funding from the state of Oklahoma on December 15, 2020, as part of its water pipeline project,

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2940-528: The city's most expensive project ever. On February 28, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced their approval of a National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Assessment led by the City of Enid and Garver for the Enid Kaw Lake Water Supply Program. The USACE's Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) means that the program has taken a significant step toward construction set to begin in

3010-569: The construction of several buildings including the Broadway Tower , Garfield County Courthouse , and Enid Masonic Temple . In conjunction with the oil boom, oilmen such as T. T. Eason , H. H. Champlin , and Charles E. Knox built homes in the area. Residential additions during this period include Kenwood , Waverley , Weatherly, East Hill, Kinser Heights, Buena Vista, and McKinley. Union Equity, Continental, Pillsbury, General Mills, and other grain companies operated mills and grain elevators in

3080-421: The early town: A trip to Enid was surely a marvelous treat, the stairways one saw being the very least of it. First off, on the edge of the prairie was a house here and house there--and not so many of them sod houses, either. Quite a few were even painted. Pretty soon the stores began, with the buildings touching each other and no front yards at all, only board sidewalks shaded by wooden awnings. Then you came to

3150-517: The eastern boundary of New Mexico Territory at the 103rd meridian, thus setting the western boundary of the strip. The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 set the southern border of Kansas Territory as the 37th parallel . This became the northern boundary of No Man's Land . In 1889, the Unassigned Lands were opened for settlement. The passage of the Organic Act in 1890 assigned No Man's Land to

3220-411: The elementary schools had at least 25% of their total students being Marshallese ELL students. The district, in 2017, had two liaisons meant for the Marshallese population. In 2017, 200 of the students at Enid High School were Marshallese, and by 2014 the school had a student club where Marshallese students taught the overall student population about their culture. Longfellow Middle School also had such

3290-669: The fall semester of 1955. Enid's public schools were not fully integrated until 1969 when Enid closed the elementary schools in the Southern Heights neighborhood and children were bussed to other schools. Citing economics and no foreign language education, the Enid School Board closed Booker T. Washington in 1960, and its 43 students were integrated into the wider school system. Despite strides forward in integrating local educational institutions, local restaurants and drug store lunch counters refused service to Black citizens. In 1958

3360-819: The federal government due to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act changing relevant laws. The Oklahoma government has the ability to allow Marshallese citizens in its state borders to get access to these federal health programs, but it chooses not to do so. It is common for Marshallese in Enid to frequently change residences. As many Marshallese have not obtained U.S. citizenship, they lack power in governance. Business ownership and management are not common among Marshallese in Enid. In 2014 there were 381 students in Enid Public Schools who were Marshallese in English language learner programs, and two of

3430-459: The first half of 2021. On June 3, 2021, the project's construction manager at-risk announced that construction had officially begun at the lake's intake facility in Osage County where work has begun on the vertical intake shaft, which then will micro-tunnel into the lake to gain access. The project's design engineering firm also announced that nearly all the necessary land also has been acquired for

3500-521: The founders of Kaufman's Style Shop, Herzberg's Department Store, Newman Mercantile, and Meibergen and Godschalk, Enid's first clothing store. During the Oklahoma territorial era, Enid elected Jewish resident Joseph Meibergen in 1897 as mayor. Enid was home to the Northwest Oklahoma chapter of the B'nai B'rith founded in 1926, the Enid Jewish Women's Council met in the 1930s and 1940s, and

3570-583: The letters K through Q, respectively. Upon Oklahoma's statehood in 1907, four additional counties – Alfalfa , Ellis , Harper , and Major – were created in the Cherokee Outlet using existing land from Woods, Kay, and Woodward counties. While there were certainly success stories, not all land claimants found prosperity. Despite the opportunity afforded by free land, many of the new towns were overbuilt, while some farmers found their land claims unsuitable for farming, resulting in many claims being abandoned by

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3640-405: The new Oklahoma Territory . No Man's Land became Seventh County under the newly organized Oklahoma Territory, land was soon renamed Beaver County . Northwestern Oklahoma took its current form when Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory joined the Union in 1907 as the single U.S. state of Oklahoma . Northwest Oklahoma ranges from dry and flat to an area with mountain ranges and mesas ,

3710-404: The nickname of "Queen Wheat City" and "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity, and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world. Prior to the Land Run of 1893 , the land where present day Enid, Oklahoma sits was part of O County in the Cherokee Outlet , and was occupied by the Cherokee people following the Treaty of New Echota and

3780-759: The northwest. Canton Lake is the southwest. Sooner Lake is to the east. Carl Blackwell Lake is to the southeast. Enid has produced several athletes, including NFL football players Todd Franz , Steve Fuller , Ken Mendenhall , John Ward , Jeff Zimmerman , Jim Riley, and the CFL 's Kody Bliss . Brothers Brent Price and Mark Price became NBA players, and Don Haskins is a Hall of Fame basketball coach. USSF soccer player Andrew Hoxie , Major League Baseball pitchers, Ray Hayward and Lou Kretlow , Olympian and runner, Chris McCubbins , and Stacy Prammanasudh , an LPGA golfer, all were born or lived in Enid. The Enid Harvesters (active from 1920 to 1924) were named as

3850-408: The oil that flows," his lyrics read. These were the early staples of the Enid economy. Enid's economy saw oil booms and agricultural growth in the first half of the 20th century. The Great Depression , however, caused both of these staples to lose value, and many businesses in Enid closed. However, Enid recovered, prospering and growing in population until a second wave of bad economic times hit in

3920-548: The only non-Republican territorial congressional delegate. In 2023 Enid elected a former organizer for Identity Evropa who was at the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally to its city commission, who was recalled and defeated in 2024. Of the people in Enid, 61.9% claim affiliation with a religious congregation; 9.4% are Catholic, 39.2% are Protestant, 1.1% are Latter Day Saints and 12.2% are another Christian denomination. By 1987, there were 90 churches of 27 different denominations of Christianity. Downtown Enid boasted

3990-575: The opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, Enid was the location of a land office which is now preserved in its Humphrey Heritage Village, part of the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center . Enid, the rail station, (now North Enid, Oklahoma ) was the original town site endorsed by the government. It was platted by the surveyor W. D. Twichell, then of Amarillo, Texas . The Enid-Pond Creek Railroad War ensued when

4060-437: The opening up of the last large remaining portion of tillable land that still remained in the public domain. The Land Run itself began at noon on September 16, 1893, with an estimated 100,000 participants hoping to stake claim to part of the 6 million acres and 40,000 homesteads on what had formerly been Cherokee grazing land. It would be Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run . Four United States General Land Offices for

4130-563: The original name, he renamed the station Enid, after a character in Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King . However, a more fanciful story of how the town received its name is popular. According to that tale, in the days following the land run, some enterprising settlers decided to set up a chuckwagon and cook for their fellow pioneers, hanging a sign that read "DINE". Some other, more free-spirited settlers, turned that sign backward to read, of course, "ENID". The name stuck. During

4200-399: The region that would become the Oklahoma Panhandle . Under the Compromise of 1850 , Texas surrendered its lands north of 36°30' latitude. The 170-mile strip of land, a "neutral strip", was left with no state or territorial ownership from 1850 until 1890. It was officially called the "Public Land Strip" and was commonly referred to as " No Man's Land ." The Compromise of 1850 also established

4270-454: The run were specially set up to handle the event – in Perry , Enid , Woodward , and Alva . Infantry troops were stationed at those sites in an attempt to maintain order, while Cavalry troops were stationed at encampments near Alva, Bluff Creek, Chilocco , Clear Creek, Hennessey , Pond Creek , South Wharton, and Waynoka . Despite that, ' Sooners ' – those who started before the designated time – still managed to sneak in and secure some of

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4340-486: The summertime, Enid's Gaslight Theatre hosts a production of Shakespeare in the Park , as well as year-round theater productions. The Enid Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1905 and is the oldest symphony in the state, performing year-round in the Enid Symphony Center . Enid's Chautauqua in the Park takes place each summer in Government Springs Park , providing five nights of educational performances by scholars portraying prominent historical figures. The Chautauqua program

4410-631: The winter, and reach above 100 °F or 37.8 °C in the summer. The highest recorded temperature was 118 °F (47.8 °C) in 1936, and the lowest recorded temperature was −20 °F (−28.9 °C) in 1905. On average, the warmest month is July, January is the coolest month, and the maximum average precipitation occurs in June. An ice storm struck Northwest Oklahoma in late January 2002. The storm caused over $ 100 million of damage, initially leaving some 255,000 residences and businesses without power. A week later, 39,000 Oklahoma residents were still without power. Enid, with its population of 47,000,

4480-420: The world's largest fresh cut Christmas tree in 2021 and 2022, which was placed downtown in time for the annual Enid Lights Up the Plains festival. Enid's Phillips University , although formally affiliated with the Disciples of Christ , was a product of religious collaboration between followers of the Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian Church, and Judaism. Although Phillips University has closed, Enid still has

4550-561: Was 6 blocks wide by 11 blocks long consisting of the town square on the northwest end, West Hill (Jefferson) school on the southwest end, Government Springs Park in the middle southern section, and East Hill (Garfield) school on the far northeast corner. A year later, the population was estimated at 4,410, growing to 10,087 by 1907, the year of Oklahoma statehood. The town's early history was captured in Cherokee Strip: A Tale of an Oklahoma Boyhood by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marquis James , who recounts his boyhood in Enid. He writes of

4620-588: Was 693.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 75.9% White, 15.3% Hispanic or Latino Americans, 2.6% African American, 2.6% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 4.8% Pacific Islander, and 8.2% from two or more races. The population consists of 25.2% children under the age of 18, 7.0% under the age of 5, and 14.8% 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 with 60.5% being owner occupied housing. 49.4% of people in Enid identify as female, 8.3% were foreign born, 13.2% had some form of disability, and 3,365 were veterans. Enid has been predominantly

4690-455: Was brought to Enid in 1907 by the Enid Circle Jewish Chautauqua and is now produced by the Greater Enid Arts and Humanities Council. Enid's Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center preserves the local history of the Land Run of 1893, Phillips University , and Garfield County. The museum originated as the Museum of the Cherokee Strip in the 1970s, and reopened on April 1, 2011. Enid also commemorates its land run history each September by hosting

4760-398: Was entirely without electricity for days. The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reported over 31,000 electrical poles were destroyed across the state. The American Red Cross set up a shelter at Northern Oklahoma College. Some other notable storms in Enid's history include: As of the 2020 census , 51,308 people resided in the city in 19,428 households. The population density

4830-484: Was home to a small Jewish congregation called Emanuel, which met at the Loewen Hotel, founded by Al Loewen, a local merchant who also served on the committee to create Phillips University. Lacking a synagogue building members of the Jewish community have held services at Convention Hall and local Masonic Temples, or by traveling to synagogues in other cities. The Enid Cemetery also has a Jewish section where many of early Enid's Jewish merchants are interred, including

4900-417: Was that individual Cherokees were permitted to establish claims in the Outlet, an option many of them took advantage of. At the same time, droughts, sharply declining agricultural prices, and the Panic of 1893 precipitated many to begin gathering in Kansas's boomer camps. Tension was high as the numbers of potential settlers waiting in tents or makeshift dwellings increased in the anticipation running up to

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