Okay, Oklahoma

{{redirect-distinguish|Okay, OK|OK OK (disambiguation){{!}}OK OK|Okay Okay}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox settlement |official_name = Okay, Oklahoma |settlement_type = Town |nickname = |motto =

|unit_pref = Imperial |area_footnotes = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 20, 2022}}</ref> |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = 2.05 |area_land_km2 = 2.05 |area_water_km2 = 0.00 |area_total_sq_mi = 0.79 |area_land_sq_mi = 0.79 |area_water_sq_mi = 0.00

|timezone = Central (CST) |utc_offset = -6 |timezone_DST = CDT |utc_offset_DST = -5 |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = 166 |elevation_ft = 545 |coordinates = {{coord|35|51|10|N|95|18|57|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}} |postal_code_type = ZIP code |postal_code = 74446 |area_codes = 539/918 |blank_name = FIPS code |blank_info = 40-54100<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> |blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 1096195<ref name="GR3-u">{{cite gnis|1096195|Okay|2026-02-25}}</ref> |website = |footnotes = |pop_est_as_of = |pop_est_footnotes = |population_est = }} '''Okay''' is a town along the east bank of the Verdigris River in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, Okay had a population of 505.<ref name="Census2020PLLede">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME%2CP1_001N&for=place%3A54100&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=February 2, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref> ==Etymology and history== Okay's history as a community began ''circa'' 1806, when a French trader named Joseph Bogy established a trading post in the Three Forks area of what would eventually become the state of Oklahoma. {{efn|The Osage who lived nearby, and claimed to control the area, regularly visited the post to barter for ammunition. Their enemies, the Choctaws, also visited to rob the post and punish Bogy for trading with the Osage.<ref name="EOHC-Okay">[https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK002 Crocker, Jack. "Okay." ''The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed December 6, 2018.</ref>}} The firm of Brand and Barbour took over the post later. When Barbour died in 1822, A. P. Chouteau, who had already established a trading post at Salina bought the Three Forks post. At the time, the post included twelve houses and a ferry.<ref name="GLN">[http://grandlakenewsonline.com/three-forks-oklahomas-first-walmart-p732-126.htm "Three Forks, America's First Walmart." ''Grand Lake News''. September 25, 2017.] Accessed September 25, 2017.</ref> Chouteau expanded his business by bringing in Creole carpenters to construct keelboats that local traders needed to transport the goods they obtained from the local Indians to New Orleans and St. Louis. For a while, the Osage tribe claimed ownership of the land, which they ceded to the Western Cherokees before the Trail of Tears. Then the Western Creeks were allowed to settle on part of the land. In 1828, the Federal Government bought Chouteau's land for construction of a Creek Agency.<ref name="Capace">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-EbRP8o6LGMC&dq=Three+Forks+%28Oklahoma%29&pg=PA206 Capace, Nancy. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma''. p. 206. Somerset Publishers, Inc. St. Clair Shores, MI. 1999.]. {{ISBN|0-403-09837-8}} Accessed September 24, 2017.</ref>

The settlement had various names before 1919.<ref name="okhistoryOK002">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OK002|title=Okay|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|access-date=September 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="eis1975"/> The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway called a nearby switch '''Coretta''', and the US Post Office adopted the name in 1891.<ref name="okhistoryOK002"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=OK&county=Wagoner | title=Wagoner County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=April 1, 2015}}</ref> The Cook Gang robbed the train at Coretta on 1894.<ref name="Nash1989">{{cite book|last=Nash|first=Jay Robert|title=Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen & Outlaws|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNIdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|access-date=September 14, 2017|date=January 3, 1989|publisher=M. Evans|isbn=9781590775301|pages=84–85|chapter=Cook, William Tuttle}}</ref> The name '''Falls City''' was also current, from nearby rapids on the Verdigris River.<ref name="okhistoryOK002"/> The post office name changed to '''Rex''' in 1900 and '''North Muskogee''' in 1911.<ref name="okhistoryOK002"/> The name '''Okay''' was adopted on October 18, 1919, after the "O. K. Trucks" brand of oil tankers made at a factory built there in 1915 by the Oklahoma Auto Manufacturing Company,<ref name="eis1975">{{cite book|title=Fort Gibson and Tenkiller Ferry Lakes: Environmental Impact Statement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg80AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA2-PA13|year=1975|pages=2–13}}</ref><ref name="okhistoryOK002"/><ref name="okhistoryAU002">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AU002|title=Automotive Manufacturing|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|access-date=September 14, 2017}}</ref> which later renamed itself the "O. K. Truck Manufacturing Company".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Automotive Industries |publisher=Chilton Company |volume=43 |page=47 |title=Hutchinson O. K. Truck Official |date=July 5, 1923}}</ref> Okay has been noted for its unusual place name.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ScpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5595%2C1991739 | title=Rodney, Oscar, Cecil, Esther Surround Us | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date=July 14, 1969 | access-date=May 20, 2015 | author=Baker, Lawrence B. | pages=23}}; {{cite book|title=LIFE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57|date=January 31, 1944|page=57|issn=0024-3019}}</ref>

A fire destroyed most of the business district in 1936, including two general stores, a church, the post office, and two vacant buildings. Only two businesses, a filling station and a blacksmith shop, survived the disaster.<ref name="EOHC-Okay"/>

==Geography== According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of {{convert|0.8|sqmi|km2}}, all land.<ref name="city-dataOkay">[http://www.city-data.com/city/Okay-Oklahoma.html "Okay, Oklahoma." City-Data.com. 2018.] Accessed December 6, 2018.</ref>

==Demographics== {{US Census population |1930= 248 |1940= 322 |1950= 427 |1960= 419 |1970= 419 |1980= 554 |1990= 528 |2000= 597 |2010= 620 |2020= 505 |footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref> | align = right | align-fn = center }}

===2020 census===

As of the 2020 census, Okay had a population of 505. The median age was 42.3 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 81.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.7 males age 18 and over.<ref name="Census2020DP">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dp?get=NAME%2CDP1_0021P%2CDP1_0024P%2CDP1_0025C%2CDP1_0049C%2CDP1_0045C%2CDP1_0069C%2CDP1_0073C%2CDP1_0125P%2CDP1_0126P%2CDP1_0129P%2CDP1_0133P%2CDP1_0137P%2CDP1_0138P%2CDP1_0139P%2CDP1_0141P%2CDP1_0142P%2CDP1_0143P%2CDP1_0145P%2CDP1_0146P%2CDP1_0147C%2CDP1_0148C%2CDP1_0149C%2CDP1_0156C%2CDP1_0157C%2CDP1_0158C%2CDP1_0159P%2CDP1_0160P&for=place%3A54100&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=April 25, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="Census2020PL"/>

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.<ref name="Census2020DHC">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dhc?get=NAME%2CP2_002N%2CP2_003N&for=place%3A54100&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2023|access-date=April 25, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

There were 211 households in Okay, of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.8% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

There were 244 housing units, of which 13.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 0.0%.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

{| class="wikitable" |+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census<ref name="Census2020PL">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME%2CP1_001N%2CP1_003N%2CP1_004N%2CP1_005N%2CP1_006N%2CP1_007N%2CP1_008N%2CP1_009N%2CP2_001N%2CP2_002N%2CH1_001N%2CH1_002N&for=place%3A54100&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=April 25, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref> ! Race !! Number !! Percent |- | White || 308 || 61.0% |- | Black or African American || 4 || 0.8% |- | American Indian and Alaska Native || 110 || 21.8% |- | Asian || 0 || 0.0% |- | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0% |- | Some other race || 2 || 0.4% |- | Two or more races || 81 || 16.0% |- | ''Hispanic or Latino (of any race)'' || 13 || 2.6% |} ===2000 census===

As of the census<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 597 people, 227 households, and 165 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|737.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 278 housing units at an average density of {{convert|343.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 64.15% White, 4.36% African American, 21.27% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 1.84% from other races, and 7.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.69% of the population.

There were 227 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 18.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,385, and the median income for a family was $23,472. Males had a median income of $21,000 versus $14,444 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,758. About 26.2% of families and 27.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.9% of those under age 18 and 34.2% of those age 65 or over.

==Education== According to the ''Huffington Post'', the Okay Public School Board of Education has instituted a policy of allowing teachers to have guns in their schools. On February 1, 2016, the signs that had read, "Gun Free School Zone," were replaced by signs reading, "Attention. Please be aware that certain staff members at Okay Public Schools can be legally armed and may use whatever force is necessary to protect our students."<ref name="HuffPost">[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teachers-guns-okay-oklahoma_us_56b50fcbe4b04f9b57d9a561 Murdock, Sebastian. "This Town Is Encouraging Teachers To Carry Guns. Here's Their Reasoning." ''Huffington Post''. February 6, 2016.] Accessed February 6, 2016.</ref>

Superintendent Charles McMahan was quoted as saying that, "No specific incident caused us to pass this policy. ...With everything that is going on in the world, we've heard that you may possibly see more attacks from radical groups looking for children." McMahan pointed out that Okay has only one police officer. Other law enforcement officers can respond from Wagoner, Oklahoma in about 10 minutes. He added that about five percent of the Okay teachers are armed.<ref name="HuffPost"/>

Teachers participating in the program must have a concealed carry permit, a certificate from Oklahoma's Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, a psychiatric evaluation and take a shooting course three times a year. They must carry their own guns (45 caliber or less), or keep them in a locked box at school. The policy also requires the armed teachers wear an identifying badge, hat or jacket.<ref name="HuffPost"/>

==Notable people== * Lou Henson, born in Okay in 1932 (died 2020). He was a former NCAA Division I college basketball coach<ref name="NMSU">{{cite web|title=Lou Henson |url=http://nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1900&ATCLID=61066 |publisher=New Mexico State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160930220827/http://nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1900&ATCLID=61066 |archive-date=September 30, 2016 |date=2004 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.<ref name="Henson College HOF Illini">{{cite web | url=http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021715aab.html | title=Coach Lou Henson Selected to National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | publisher=University of Illinois DIA | date=February 17, 2015 | access-date=February 17, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217223055/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021715aab.html | archive-date=February 17, 2015 }}</ref> * Katie Rain Hill, transgender writer and activisit

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Portal|Oklahoma}} {{reflist}}

Category:Towns in Oklahoma Category:Towns in Wagoner County, Oklahoma Category:Populated places within the Cherokee Nation reservation Category:1919 establishments in Oklahoma