Guthrie, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
 Downtown Guthrie | |
  Guthrie Location within Oklahoma Show map of Oklahoma Guthrie Location within the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:35°51′23″N97°26′9″W / 35.85639°N 97.43583°W /35.85639; -97.43583 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Logan |
| Established | 1889 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Adam Ropp[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 18.43 sq mi (47.74 km2) |
| • Land | 17.98 sq mi (46.58 km2) |
| • Water | 0.45 sq mi (1.16 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,040 ft (320 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 10,749 |
| • Density | 597.7/sq mi (230.78/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 73044 |
| Area codes | 405/572 |
| FIPS code | 40-31700[4] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2410678[3] |
| Website | cityofguthrie.com |
Guthrie Historic District | |
 Tent city on April 24, 1889, the second day after the opening. Two lower images are on May 10, 1889 and 1893 respectively. | |
 | |
| Location | Guthrie,Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°51′23″N97°26′9″W / 35.85639°N 97.43583°W /35.85639; -97.43583 |
| Built | 1927-29 |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001664[5] |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated NRHP | June 13, 1974 |
| Designated NHL | January 20, 1999 |
Guthrie is a city in and thecounty seat inLogan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of theOklahoma City Metroplex. Its population was 10,191 at the2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the2000 census.[6] First known as a railroad station stop, after theLand Run of 1889, Guthrie immediately gained 10,000 new residents, who began to develop the town. It was rapidly improved and was designated as theterritorial capital, and in 1907 as the first state capital of Oklahoma. In 1910, state voters chose the largerOklahoma City as the new capital in a special election.
Guthrie is nationally significant for its collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century commercial architecture. TheGuthrie Historic District includes more than 2,000 buildings and is designated as aNational Historic Landmark. Historic tourism is important to the city, and itsVictorian architecture provides a backdrop for Wild West and territorial-style entertainment, carriage tours, replica trolley cars, specialty shops, and art galleries.
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Guthrie was established in 1887 as arailroad station called Deer Creek on the Southern Kansas Railway (later acquired by theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) running from theKansas–Oklahoma border toPurcell.[7] The name was later changed to Guthrie, named for jurist John Guthrie ofTopeka, Kansas. A post office was established on April 4, 1889.[8]
In 1889, some 50,000 potential settlers gathered at the edges of theUnassigned Lands in hopes of staking a claim to a plot. At noon on April 22, 1889, cannons resounded at a 2,000,000-acre (810,000 ha; 8,100 km2) section ofIndian Territory, launching presidentBenjamin Harrison's "Hoss Race" orLand Run of 1889. People ran for both farmlands and towns.
During the next six hours, about 10,000 people settled in what became the capital of the newTerritory of Oklahoma. Within months, Guthrie was developed as a modern brick-and-stone "Queen of the Prairie" withmunicipal water, electricity, amass-transit system, and undergroundparking garages for horses andcarriages.
Guthrie's western heritage includes the fact that, on April 13, 1898, outlaw Richard "Little Dick" West, a former member of theWild Bunch gang, was in town when approached by legendary lawmenHeck Thomas andBill Tilghman. He refused to surrender, and was killed in the resulting gunfight. He is buried in the Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie near outlawBill Doolin.[9]
Hobart Johnstone Whitley, also known as HJ and the Father of Hollywood, was the first president of the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce. Whitley built the first brick block building in the territory for his National Loan and Trust Company. He was asked by the local people to be the first governor of Oklahoma. Whitley traveled toWashington, DC, where he persuaded theU.S. Congress to allow Guthrie to be the new capital of the future state of Oklahoma. This was specified in the 1906Oklahoma Enabling Act, which established certain requirements for the new state constitution.[10] By 1907, when Guthrie became the state capital, it looked like a well-established Eastern city.
Guthrie prospered as the administrative center of the territory, but it was eclipsed in economic influence by Oklahoma City early in the 20th century. Oklahoma City had become a major junction for several railroads and had also attracted a major industry in the form ofmeat packing. Oklahoma City business leaders began campaigning soon after statehood to make Oklahoma City the new state capital, and in 1910, a special election was held to determine the location of the state capital; 96,488 votes were cast for Oklahoma City; 31,031 for Guthrie; and 8,382 forShawnee.[11]GovernorCharles N. Haskell, who was inTulsa on the day of the election, ordered his secretary W. B. Anthony to haveOklahoma Secretary of State Bill Cross obtain thestate seal and transport it to Oklahoma City, despite having been served a restraining order by Logan County Sheriff John Mahoney blocking the transfer.[12][13][14][15] Anthony obtained written authorization from Cross, retrieved the seal from the Logan County courthouse, and delivered it to Oklahoma City.[12]
After the capital was transferred, Guthrie lost much of its government-related business and numerous residents. It began to dwindle in size and soon lost its status as Oklahoma's second-largest city, initially toMuskogee, then later toTulsa. A challenge to the new state capital was heard in theOklahoma Supreme Court; it upheld the election and moved in its ruling on February 9, 1911,[16] as did the United States Supreme Court the same year.[17]
The center district of Guthrie was designated aNational Historic Landmark by theNational Park Service in 1999, in recognition of the city's importance to state history, as well as its rich architecture.
As a result of Guthrie's early loss of prominence, it has a well-preservedVictorian enclave. Whereas growth and inattentiveurban planning caused other Oklahoma towns such as Oklahoma City to destroy much of their early downtown architecture, much of the entire central business and residential district of Guthrie is intact.
The National Finals Steer Roping Rodeo is held in Guthrie. On six occasions,Texas rodeo promoterDan Taylor was chute director for the competition in Guthrie.[18]
Historical tourism has become a significant industry for the town. Guthrie is the largest urbanhistoric district in Oklahoma, containing 2,169 buildings, 1,400 acres (567 ha; 5.67 km2), and 400 city blocks. Guthrie is a "Certified City"; it has received aCommunity Development Block Grant to inventory infrastructure features for capital-improvement planning.
To the south of Guthrie lie Liberty Lake and Guthrie Lake. Its museums include the Oklahoma Territorial Museum; it hosts theOklahoma International Bluegrass Festival, which draws 15,000 visitors annually. In addition, Guthrie claims to be the "Bed and Breakfast" capital of Oklahoma.
Guthrie also hosts theGuthrie Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, one of the world's largest Masonic centers,[19] which in years past has brought artists such as Henry Mancini, Lena Horne, Victor Borge, and Luciano Pavarotti to local audiences.[20]
Guthrie has Oklahoma's oldest year-round professional theatre company, the Pollard Theatre Company.[21] With an emphasis on creative story-telling to illuminate the shared human experience, the Pollard produces six or more plays and musicals annually, enlisting artists across the United States. The annual holiday favorite isA Territorial Christmas Carol.
Guthrie is served by theGuthrie News-Leader newspaper.[22]
Guthrie lies along one of the primary corridors into Texas and Mexico, and is a four-hour drive from theDallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The city is located in theFrontier Country region in the center of the state. It is about 32 miles (51 km) north of Oklahoma City.[7]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.2 square miles (50 km2), of which 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2) is covered by water. The total area is 2.81 percent water.
Guthrie is in the Sandstone Hills region of Oklahoma, known for hills of 250 to 400 feet (76 to 122 m) and oak forests[23] and an ecological region known as theCross Timbers.[24]
Guthrie has ahumid subtropical climate, with frequent variations in weather daily and seasonally, except during the consistently hot and humid summer months. Consistent winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help temper the hotter weather. Consistent northerly winds during the winter can intensify cold periods.
| Climate data for Guthrie, Oklahoma | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 48.0 (8.9) | 53.8 (12.1) | 64.1 (17.8) | 74.4 (23.6) | 81.6 (27.6) | 89.3 (31.8) | 95.5 (35.3) | 94.9 (34.9) | 86.1 (30.1) | 75.7 (24.3) | 61.7 (16.5) | 51.1 (10.6) | 73.0 (22.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 24.6 (−4.1) | 29.5 (−1.4) | 38.5 (3.6) | 49.2 (9.6) | 57.7 (14.3) | 66.4 (19.1) | 71.0 (21.7) | 69.5 (20.8) | 62.2 (16.8) | 50.5 (10.3) | 38.9 (3.8) | 28.6 (−1.9) | 48.9 (9.4) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 1.2 (30) | 1.7 (43) | 2.8 (71) | 2.7 (69) | 5.0 (130) | 4.2 (110) | 2.3 (58) | 2.3 (58) | 4.3 (110) | 2.7 (69) | 2.3 (58) | 1.5 (38) | 32.9 (840) |
| Source 1: weather.com | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weatherbase[25] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 5,333 | — | |
| 1900 | 10,006 | 87.6% | |
| 1910 | 11,654 | 16.5% | |
| 1920 | 11,757 | 0.9% | |
| 1930 | 9,582 | −18.5% | |
| 1940 | 10,018 | 4.6% | |
| 1950 | 10,113 | 0.9% | |
| 1960 | 9,502 | −6.0% | |
| 1970 | 9,575 | 0.8% | |
| 1980 | 10,312 | 7.7% | |
| 1990 | 10,518 | 2.0% | |
| 2000 | 9,925 | −5.6% | |
| 2010 | 10,191 | 2.7% | |
| 2020 | 10,749 | 5.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[26] | |||
As of thecensus[4] of 2000, 9,925 people, 3,854 households, and 2,474 families were residing in the city. The population density was 531.6 inhabitants per square mile (205.3/km2). The 4,308 housing units had an average density of 230.7 per square mile (89.1/km2). Theracial makeup of the city was 75.84% White, 15.77% African American, 2.97% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 1.96% from other races, and 3.03% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.79% of the population.
Of the 3,854 households, 29.2% had children under 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were not families. About 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city, the age distribution was 24.7% under 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 79.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,460, and for a family was $38,732. Males had a median income of $27,948 versus $21,186 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $15,774. About 9.8% of families and 17.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 18.1% of those under 18 and 18.4% of those 65 or over.
Several films have been shot in whole or in part within the city:
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Municipalities and communities ofLogan County, Oklahoma,United States | ||
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| Other community | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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