Idabel

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Idabel
Idabel (Oklahoma)
Idabel
Idabel
Location in Oklahoma
Basic data
Foundation : 1902
State : United States
State : Oklahoma
County : McCurtain County
Coordinates : 33 ° 54 ′  N , 94 ° 50 ′  W Coordinates: 33 ° 54 ′  N , 94 ° 50 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Residents : 7,010 (as of 2010)
Population density : 169.7 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 41.3 km 2  (approx. 16 mi 2 ) of
which 41.3 km 2  (approx. 16 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 144 m
Postal code : 74745
Area code : +1 580
FIPS : 40-36750
GNIS ID : 1101480
Website : www.idabel-ok.gov

Idabel is a city and county seat of McCurtain County in the US state of Oklahoma . Almost 7,000 people live in an area of ​​over 41 square kilometers.

Idabel is part of the Ark-La-Tex socio-economic region , which includes parts of the four states of Arkansas , Louisiana , Oklahoma and Texas .

geography

Idabel is located in the southeastern state of Oklahoma in the southern United States, about ten kilometers from the southern Texas border and 28 kilometers from the eastern Arkansas border. A nature reserve extends southeast of the city, and Hochatown State Park is a few kilometers north . Northwest and west of the city are the lakes Pine Creek Lake , Hugo Lake and Pat Mayse Lake , some of which are part of nature reserves.

Nearby cities include Garvin (4 km northwest), Broken Bow (8 km north), Haworth (12 km southeast), Millerton (12 km northwest), and Wright City (18 km northwest). The next larger city with over 1.2 million inhabitants is Dallas in Texas, which is almost 200 kilometers southwest .

history

Idabel was founded in 1902 by the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway , which later became part of the St. Louis - San Francisco Railway . First the place was called Purnell , based on the railway official Isaac Purnell. However, because the Office refused the name , a proposal was made to Mitchell , also the name of an official. This name already existed elsewhere in the same state, so Bokhama was temporarily chosen, which means "Red River" in the language of the Choctaw Indians. The first post office was opened under this name on December 15, 1902. Afterwards, the name Idabel was chosen based on Purnell's daughters Ida and Bell .

In the first years of its existence, Idabel had no administration of its own, but was administered by the Choctaw tribe. In 1906 the residents elected their first mayor. On November 16, 1907, Idabel was named the county seat of McCurtain County. This year there were 726 residents. Already in 1910 there were almost 1,500. By 1920 this number rose to almost 3,620, but fell again slightly in the following years.

As in much of the southern United States, logging and processing was the driving force in this region. When the local trees were depleted, the cotton industry became the dominant industry. In 1904 only one cotton ginning machine was operated in Idabel, in 1930 there were already six. However, the global economic crisis at the beginning of the 1930s quickly put an end to industrial activity in the region. Local landowners turned their land into pastures and henceforth established cattle breeding. To this day, more chicken farms and pine plantations have emerged.

traffic

Idabel is an intersection of several trunk roads. US Highway 70 runs from the northwest in the north to the northeast of the city and extends over 3800 kilometers from Arizona in the west to North Carolina in the east. It crosses US Highway 259 in the northeast of the city , a north-south connection with which it runs in parts on the same route. Oklahoma State Highway 3 is on the same route in the east of the city . Oklahoma State Highway 87 begins in the city center and goes south on the same route as US Highway 259. Oklahoma State Highway 37 ends in the west of the city . Interstate 30 runs about 55 kilometers southeast of the city .

Demographics

The 2000 census showed a population of 7658 people, divided between 2735 households and 1785 families. The population density was 169 people per square kilometer. 57% of the population were white, 24.5% black, 10.4% American Indian, 0.3% Asian and under 0.1% Pacific islander. 3.4% were of a different ethnicity, 4.4% had two or more ethnicities, and 5% were Hispanics or Latin Americans of any ethnicity. For every 100 women there were 86 men. The median age was 34 years and the per capita income was over US $ 12,200, bringing over 31% of the population below the poverty line.

By the 2010 census , the population had dropped to 7010.

sons and daughters of the town

Web links