Delaware County, Oklahoma
Location in the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma's location in the U.S.
Founded	1907
Seat	Jay
Largest city	Grove
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	792 sq mi (2,052 km²) 741 sq mi (1,918 km²) 52 sq mi (134 km²), 6.52%
PopulationEst.  - (2012)  - Density	41,441 52/sq mi (20/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was created in 1907. Prior to becoming Delaware County, a large portion of the area was known as the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation. Today, Delaware County continues to be recognized by the Cherokee Nation as the Delaware District. As of 2010, the population was 41,487 an 11.9 percent increase from the 2000 population of 37,077.^[1] Its county seat is Jay. The county was named for the Delaware Indians who had established a village in the area prior to the arrival of the Cherokees to Indian Territory in the 1830s.^[2]

History[edit]

Archaeological studies have shown that at least three different periods of prehistoric people had lived in the area covered by Delaware County. These included 23 Archaic, 17 Woodland, and 63 Eastern Villager sites. Artifacts date back between 1400 and 2000 years from the present. Many of these sites have been submerged since the creation of Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.^[3]

Few native Americans lived in the area until the early nineteenth Century, when the Federal Government began relocating tribes from the Eastern United States. About 1820, a group of Delaware, who had allied with the Cheokee against the Osage, settled Delaware Town, about two miles south of the present town of Eucha In 1828, the Western Cherokee moved from Arkansas Territory into the area just south of the present Delaware County. In 1832, the Seneca moved from Ohio into an area that included the northeastern part of Delaware County.^[3]

The present day county was created at statehood in 1907. Initially, Grove, the only incorporated town in the county, was designated as the county seat. However, a large number of county residents wanted a more centrally located seat. This group founded the town of Jay, where they built a wooden courthouse and won an election to move the county seat. A court suit resolved the dispute in favor of the Jay location.^[3]

Geography[edit]

The county lies on the western slope of the Ozark Plateau. There are no oil, gas or mineral resources of economic consequence, but the county has abundant water.^[3] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 792 square miles (2,051.3 km²), of which 741 square miles (1,919.2 km²) is land and 52 square miles (134.7 km²) (6.52%) is water.

Lake Eucha, a man-made reservoir on Spavinaw Creek, completed in 1952, lies primarily within Delaware County. Grand Lake o' the Cherokees, completed in 1940, and Lake Spavinaw, completed in 1924, are partly within Delaware County.^[3]

Major highways[edit]

Adjacent counties[edit]

• Ottawa County (north)
• McDonald County, Missouri (northeast)
• Benton County, Arkansas (east)
• Adair County & Cherokee County (south)
• Mayes County (west)
• Craig County (northwest)

Demographics[edit]

Age pyramid for Delaware County, Oklahoma, based on census 2000 data.

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 37,077 people, 14,838 households, and 10,772 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 22,290 housing units at an average density of 30 per square mile (12/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 70.22% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 22.31% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 6.53% from two or more races. 1.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 93.8% spoke English, 3.5% Cherokee and 2.3% Spanish as their first language.

There were 14,838 households out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.50% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.40% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 17.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,996, and the median income for a family was $33,093. Males had a median income of $25,758 versus $19,345 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,424. About 14.10% of families and 18.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.40% of those under age 18 and 11.60% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[edit]

Cities and towns[edit]

NRHP sites[edit]

The following sites are in Delaware County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

• Bassett Grove Ceremonial Grounds, Grove
• Corey House/Hotel, Grove
• Hildebrand Mill, Siloam Springs
• Polson Cemetery, Jay
• Saline Courthouse, Rose
• Splitlog Church, Grove

References[edit]

1. ^ CensusViewer. "Population of Delaware County, Oklahoma."[1]
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Stauber, Rose. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Delaware County." Retrieved July 18, 2012.[2]
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
5. ^ http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/reg_0112.pdf
6. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved 2011-06-11. 

External links[edit]

• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Delaware County
• Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory

v t e Municipalities and communities of Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States County seat: Jay Cities Grove Jay Towns Bernice Colcord Kansas Oaks‡ West Siloam Springs CDPs Brush Creek Bull Hollow Butler Cayuga Cleora Cloud Creek Copeland Deer Lick Dennis Dodge Dripping Springs Drowning Creek Flint Creek Indianola Kenwood Leach New Eucha Old Eucha Rocky Ford Sycamore Tagg Flats Twin Oaks White Water Zena Unincorporated communities Chloeta Eucha Kenwood Moseley Turkey Ford Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e  State of Oklahoma Oklahoma City (capital) Topics History Government Governor (List) Symbols People Geography Sports Visitor Attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Arklatex Central Cherokee Outlet Cross Timbers Four State Area Flint Hills Green Country Kiamichi Country Little Dixie Northwestern Oklahoma City Metro Ouachita Mountains The Ozarks Panhandle South Central Southwestern Tulsa Metro Largest cities Broken Arrow Edmond Enid Lawton Midwest City Moore Norman Oklahoma City Stillwater Tulsa Counties Adair Alfalfa Atoka Beaver Beckham Blaine Bryan Caddo Canadian Carter Cherokee Choctaw Cimarron Cleveland Coal Comanche Cotton Craig Creek Custer Delaware Dewey Ellis Garfield Garvin Grady Grant Greer Harmon Harper Haskell Hughes Jackson Jefferson Johnston Kay Kingfisher Kiowa Latimer Le Flore Lincoln Logan Love Major Marshall Mayes McClain McCurtain McIntosh Murray Muskogee Noble Nowata Okfuskee Oklahoma Okmulgee Osage Ottawa Pawnee Payne Pittsburg Pontotoc Pottawatomie Pushmataha Roger Mills Rogers Seminole Sequoyah Stephens Texas Tillman Tulsa Wagoner Washington Washita Woods Woodward

Coordinates: 36°25′N 94°48′W / 36.41°N 94.80°W / 36.41; -94.80