Ada, Oklahoma
| Ada, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Pontotoc County Courthouse in Ada
|
|
 Location in the state of Oklahoma |
|
| Coordinates: 34°45′49″N 96°40′6″W / 34.76361°N 96.66833°WCoordinates: 34°45′49″N 96°40′6″W / 34.76361°N 96.66833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | |
| Post Office | 1891 |
| Government | |
| • Type | City Council |
| • Mayor | Barbara Young |
| Area | |
| • Total | 15.8 sq mi (40.8 km2) |
| • Land | 15.7 sq mi (40.7 km2) |
| • Water | .1 sq mi (.2 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 1,010 ft (308 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 17,140 |
| • Density | 1,077.2/sq mi (417.1/km2) |
| • Demonym | Adan |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 74820-74821 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| FIPS code | 40-00200 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1089523 |
| Website | adaok.com |
Ada is a city in and the county seat of , Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,810 at the 2010 census, an increase of 7.1 percent from 15,691 at the 2000 census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was incorporated in 1901. Ada is home to East Central University, and is the headquarters of the Chickasaw Nation.
Ada is an Oklahoma Main Street City, an Oklahoma Certified City, and a Tree City USA member.
In the late 1880s, the Daggs family (by way of Texas) became the first white family to settle what is now known as Ada, which was formerly known as Daggs Prairie. In April 1889, Jeff Reed (a native Texan, and relative of the Daggs family) was appointed to carry the mail from Stonewall to Center (which was later combined with Pickett), two small communities in then Indian Territory. With his family and his stock, he sought a place for a home on a prairie midway between the two points, where he constructed a log house and started Reed's Store. Other settlers soon built homes nearby. In 1891, a post office was established and named after Reed's oldest daughter, Ada. Ada incorporated as a city in 1901 and grew rapidly with the arrival of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway line. Within a decade the Santa Fe Railroad and the Oklahoma Central Railway also served the town.
In 1909, the women of Ada organized an effort to build a normal school in their city. It resulted in the founding of East Central College (now East Central University).
On April 19, 1909, an organized mob hanged four men set to be tried for the murder of a former U.S. marshal and member of the local freemason lodge. The town had a population of about 5,000 at the time, and 38 murders a year at the time of the lynching. The Daily Ardmoreite reported that the four lynched men were "one of the bloodiest band of murderers in the state of Oklahoma and an organization of professional assassins, that for a record of blood crimes, probably has no equal in the annals of criminal history in the entire southwest."
...
Wikipedia