Waynoka, Oklahoma

{{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Waynoka, Oklahoma |settlement_type = [[City]] |nickname = |motto =

|image_skyline = |image_caption = |image_flag = |image_seal =

|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_total_km2 = 2.60 |area_land_km2 = 2.60 |area_water_km2 = 0.00 |area_total_sq_mi = 1.00 |area_land_sq_mi = 1.00 |area_water_sq_mi = 0.00

|timezone = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]] |utc_offset = -6 |timezone_DST = CDT |utc_offset_DST = -5 |elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/> |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = 1493 |coordinates = {{coord|36|34|56|N|98|52|47|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}} |postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]] |postal_code = 73860 |area_code = [[Area code 580|580]] |blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]] |blank_info = 40-79350<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> |blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID |blank1_info = 1099446<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1099446}}</ref> |website =  }}

'''Waynoka''' is a city in [[Woods County, Oklahoma|Woods County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States. It is located on [[U.S. Route 281#Oklahoma|U.S. Highway 281]] and [[Oklahoma State Highway 14|State Highway 14]], seventy miles west of [[Enid, Oklahoma|Enid]]. The population, which peaked at 2,018 in 1950, was 708 at the time of the [[2020 United States census|2020 Census]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Waynoka%20city,%20Oklahoma |title=Waynoka (city), Oklahoma |publisher= United States Census Bureau|accessdate=April 20, 2024}}</ref>

==History==

===Founding years=== Founded in what was then known as [[Indian Territory]], Waynoka was established in 1887 when the Southern Kansas Railroad, a subsidiary of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]], built a rail line through the area. Shortly thereafter, on April 10, 1888, a post office was established, having the distinction of being the first to be established in the [[Cherokee Outlet]]. Its economy was based on the railroad and the large ranches in the area. When the Cherokee Outlet opened up for non-Indian settlement in the land run of September 16, 1893, Waynoka became the area's agricultural trade center.<ref name="EOHC-Waynoka">{{cite web|last1=Barker Olson|first1=Sandra|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WA051|title=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Waynoka|website=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=October 7, 2018}}</ref>

===Transportation Center=== The Santa Fe Railway made the city a major railroad center when it built Oklahoma's largest rail yard in Waynoka. Ultimately employing a thousand machinists, boilermakers, sheet metal mechanics, fire builders, car men, switchmen, and engineers, it operated twenty-four hours a day. One of the nation's largest ice plants was built to supply ice for refrigerator cars hauling perishables on Santa Fe's main line from [[Chicago]] to [[Los Angeles]]. In addition, a roundhouse, maintenance and repair shops, a reading room, a depot, and a [[Harvey House]] were built by the railroad. Although the railroad eventually moved its maintenance operations from Waynoka, it continued train crew changes there until 1986. At the turn of the twenty-first century, between fifty and one hundred trains still passed daily through Waynoka on Oklahoma's fastest and busiest rail line.<ref name="EOHC-Waynoka"/>

Waynoka was also the starting point of the [[Buffalo and Northwestern Railroad]], a 52-mile line linking to [[Buffalo, Oklahoma]], the [[Harper County, Oklahoma|Harper County]] seat.<ref name=Abandoned/><ref name=Buffalo>{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BU004 |title=Buffalo|publisher=Maxine Bamburg, Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=November 15, 2021}}</ref> The line was finished in 1920, and acquired by the Santa Fe the same year.<ref name=Buffalo/> However, the Santa Fe abandoned the line in 1982.<ref name=Abandoned>{{cite web|url= http://www.abandonedrails.com/buffalo-district |title=The Buffalo District|publisher=AbandonedRails.com|accessdate=November 15, 2021}}</ref>

The predecessor company of [[TWA]], [[Transcontinental Air Transport]], known as "TAT", built Oklahoma's first [[airport]] for Transcontinental in 1929 in Waynoka, at a site five miles northeast of town selected by [[Charles Lindbergh]] himself. TAT offered passengers coast-to-coast travel in forty-eight hours,<ref name="EOHC-Waynoka"/> and Waynoka was an important stop on the pioneering route. For the service, TAT utilized not only its own [[Ford Trimotor]] aircraft, but also [[Pullman (car or coach)|Pullman]] sleeper cars of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] and the [[Santa Fe Railroad]] for the two overnight segments of the long trip. It was at Waynoka that passengers would transfer from the TAT airplane to the Santa Fe train (going westbound), or conversely, from the Santa Fe train to the TAT plane (heading eastbound).<ref name="EOHC-TAT">{{cite web|last1=Bennett-Jones|first1=Julie A.|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TR005|title=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - TRANSCONTINENTAL AIR TRANSPORT|website=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=October 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/tat.htm| title= TAT Timetable, July 7, 1929| publisher=www.timetableimages.com | access-date=January 29, 2019}}</ref> Both Lindbergh and [[Amelia Earhart]], as officers in the company, reportedly became familiar faces in town.<ref name="EOHC-Waynoka"/> After losing $2.7 million in its first eighteen months of operation, TAT in October 1930 merged with Western Air Express to become Transcontinental and Western Airlines, which announced a new route from Kansas City, Kansas, by way of Tulsa, Oklahoma. This ended operations at Waynoka.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TR005| title= Transcontinental Air Transport| publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society | access-date=January 29, 2019}}</ref>

Waynoka is linked by [[US Route 281]].<ref name=Maps1>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Waynoka,+OK+73860/@36.5597239,-98.9076426,12.26z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87af3f076b5037a7:0xd6a35e95c55d9f46!8m2!3d36.5822557!4d-98.8798145 |title=Waynoka, OK|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref>

The current Waynoka Municipal Airport (FAA Identifier: 1K5) is one mile southeast of town, and features a paved 3532’ x 60’ runway.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.airnav.com/airport/1K5 |title= Vici Municipal Airport |publisher=AirNav.com|access-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Geography== According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|1.0|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

[[Little Sahara State Park]] is {{convert|4|mi|km}} south of the city. The park offers over {{convert|1600|acre|km2}} of rideable sand dunes ranging in height from 25 to {{convert|75|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Little Sahara State Park |publisher=Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department |url=http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.4581 | access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref>

===Climate=== {{Weather box  | single line = Y | location = Waynoka, Oklahoma (1991–2020)  | Jan high F =48.5 | Feb high F =52.5 | Mar high F =62.1 | Apr high F =71.8 | May high F =80.9 | Jun high F =90.4 | Jul high F =95.9 | Aug high F =93.8 | Sep high F =86.1 | Oct high F =73.8 | Nov high F =60.6 | Dec high F =49.5  | Jan mean F =35.4 | Feb mean F =38.9 | Mar mean F =48.3 | Apr mean F =57.6 | May mean F =68.0 | Jun mean F =78.0 | Jul mean F =83.1 | Aug mean F =81.0 | Sep mean F =72.8 | Oct mean F =59.8 | Nov mean F =46.9 | Dec mean F =36.8  | Jan low F =22.2 | Feb low F =25.3 | Mar low F =34.5 | Apr low F =43.5 | May low F =55.2 | Jun low F =65.6 | Jul low F =70.3 | Aug low F =68.1 | Sep low F =59.5 | Oct low F =45.7 | Nov low F =33.2 | Dec low F =24.1  | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation inch =0.81 | Feb precipitation inch =0.98 | Mar precipitation inch =1.95 | Apr precipitation inch =2.37 | May precipitation inch =4.06 | Jun precipitation inch =4.16 | Jul precipitation inch =3.48 | Aug precipitation inch =3.39 | Sep precipitation inch =2.05 | Oct precipitation inch =2.68 | Nov precipitation inch =1.20 | Dec precipitation inch =1.09  | Jan snow inch =2.0 | Feb snow inch =2.2 | Mar snow inch =2.0 | Apr snow inch =0.0 | May snow inch =0.0 | Jun snow inch =0.0 | Jul snow inch =0.0 | Aug snow inch =0.0 | Sep snow inch =0.0 | Oct snow inch =0.0 | Nov snow inch =0.2 | Dec snow inch =2.9  | source = NOAA<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset=normals-monthly&timeframe=30&station=USC00349404 |title=NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access |publisher=NOAA |access-date=2025-04-03 }}</ref> }}

==Demographics== {{US Census population |1910= 1160 |1920= 1500 |1930= 1840 |1940= 1584 |1950= 2018 |1960= 1794 |1970= 1444 |1980= 1377 |1990= 947 |2000= 993 |2010= 927 |2020= 708 |align-fn=center |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 }}

===2020 census===

As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], Waynoka had a population of 708. The median age was 42.6 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.5 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%3A79350&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=January 17, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="Census2020PL"/>

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%3A79350&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2023|access-date=January 17, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

There were 326 households in Waynoka, of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.7% were married-couple households, 26.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

There were 539 housing units, of which 39.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 70.6% were owner-occupied and 29.4% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 8.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 23.8%.<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%3A79350&in=state%3A40|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=January 17, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref> ! Race !! Percent |- | [[White Americans|White]] || 84.6% |- | [[African Americans|Black or African American]] || 0.4% |- | [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian and Alaska Native]] || 2.5% |- | [[Asian Americans|Asian]] || 0% |- | [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] and [[Pacific Islander|Other Pacific Islander]] || 0% |- | Some other race || 3.1% |- | [[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races]] || 9.3% |- | ''[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race)'' || 6.8% |}

===2000 census===

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 993 people, 453 households, and 252 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,034.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 582 housing units at an average density of {{convert|606.0|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 92.65% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 2.32% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 1.51% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.01% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 2.52% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 5.14% of the population.

There were 453 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 42.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 24.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,708, and the median income for a family was $28,833. Males had a median income of $24,063 versus $16,731 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $12,493. About 13.5% of families and 16.6% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

==Notable places and events== Waynoka is the home to the Cimarron River Stampede, a rodeo held annually since 1936. It is held on the second weekend of August.<ref>{{cite web | title=Meet the Committee Cimarron River Stampede |url=https://rodeonews.com/association/meet-committee-cimarron-river-stampede/ | publisher=The Rodeo News | access-date=October 7, 2018}}</ref>

The passenger and freight railroad stations originally built by the Santa Fe remain intact.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.american-rails.com/support-files/oklahoma-railroad-stations.pdf|title=Surviving Oklahoma Railroad Stations | publisher=american-rails.com| access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> The [[Waynoka Santa Fe Depot and Harvey House]] is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Woods County, Oklahoma]].

Other NRHP-listed locations in town are the [[First Congregational Church (Waynoka, Oklahoma)|First Congregational Church]] at 1887 E. Cecil St., and the Waynoka Telephone Exchange Building at 200 S. Main St.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Oklahoma}}  * [http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.4581 Little Sahara State Park] * [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~2208~190076:Illustrated-Map-of-the-Route-of-Tra Illustrated Map of the Route of the Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc. (from the David Rumsey Map Collection)] * [http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory] * [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TR005 Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc.]

[[Category:Cities in Woods County, Oklahoma]] [[Category:Cities in Oklahoma]]