Alva (Oklahoma)
| Alva | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Main street in Alva |
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| Location in Oklahoma | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1893 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Oklahoma | ||
| County : | Woods County | ||
| Coordinates : | 36 ° 48 ′ N , 98 ° 40 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) | ||
| Residents : | 5,288 (as of: 2000) | ||
| Population density : | 866.9 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 6.1 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) of which 6.1 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 411 m | ||
| Postal code : | 73717 | ||
| Area code : | +1 580 | ||
| FIPS : | 40-01800 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1089605 | ||
Alva is a town in Woods County, Oklahoma on the Salt Fork Arkansas River . Alva has 5,288 inhabitants (2000) and is the capital of Woods County.
History and description
Alva was founded in 1893 as a base for the Oklahoma Land Run , the largest settlement race in central and western Oklahoma. The place was chosen because of its location on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and was probably named after the railroad agent Alva Adams , who had just become governor of Colorado .
In Alva is the Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU), which was founded in 1897 as a simple school. Its main building was long known as the "Castle on the Hill", a large, imaginative, brick-built building that was modeled on a Norman castle and towered over the city. It burned down in 1935 and was replaced by the more conservative Jesse Dunn Hall, which was inaugurated by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1937 .
Today the city council is specifically asking for murals (one of the most recent is the above-mentioned “castle”) and trying to attract shops and tourists to keep people in the city. This is all the more important as Woods County's population has been declining since the 1930s. From 1990 to 2000, Alva lost 200 residents. It has a Walmart supermarket, the smallest ever built. The region is considered religious, with 16 different churches in Alva alone. The city is one of the few of its size in Oklahoma that still has its own daily newspaper, the Alva Review-Courier .
geography
According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has an area of 6.1 km². There are no bodies of water in the city.
population
| Population development | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Residents | ± in% | |
| 1900 | 1499 | - | |
| 1910 | 3688 | 146% | |
| 1920 | 3913 | 6.1% | |
| 1930 | 5121 | 30.9% | |
| 1940 | 5055 | -1.3% | |
| 1950 | 6505 | 28.7% | |
| 1960 | 6258 | -3.8% | |
| 1970 | 7440 | 18.9% | |
| 1980 | 6416 | -13.8% | |
| 1990 | 5495 | -14.4% | |
| 2000 | 5288 | -3.8% | |
| 2010 | 4945 | -6.5% | |
According to the 2000 US Census, Alva had 5,288 residents, 2,205 households, and 1,261 families. The population density was 861.5 / km². There were 2,644 buildings at a density of 430.7 / km². After races, the population of 94.99% was White , 1.30% African American , 1.34% Native Americans ( Native American ), 0.78% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Insulander ( Pacific Islander ), 0.23% other races and 1.32% descendants of 2 or more breeds. 1.82% were Hispanics or Latinos regardless of race.
There were 2,205 households, of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18, 46.1% were married couples living together, 8.4% were run by women alone and 42.8% were non-families. 34.7% of the households consisted of single persons and 16.0% of single persons of 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.81 people.
The age composition included 18.9% under 18, 21.7% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64 and 20.0% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 women there were 93.8 men and for every 100 women 18 years of age or older there were 88.5 men.
The median income for a household was $ 27,432 and that of a family was $ 38,041. Males had a median income of $ 27,531 versus $ 17,981 for women. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,966. 9.1% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8% of those under 18 and 7.0% of those 65 years of age or older.
education
In addition to Northwestern Oklahoma State University , the Northwest Technology Center is also located in Alva. The high school, middle school and three elementary schools are operated by the Alva Independent School District.
Known residents
Alva is the birthplace of
- Marilyn Mason (1925–2019), organist and music teacher
- Jack Ging (born 1931), actor
- Lex Frieden (* 1949), disability activist
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )