A Brief History

in April 19, 1892, when the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian lands were opened for

settlement.

Prior to the opening, a group of businessmen from Hennessey formed a townsite

company, and on the day of the run they met on the Strip line, 3 north and 1 mile

east of the present day Okeene.

Charles Bardrick, James Atchison, Frank Christman, and E.A. Evans staked the four

cornering claims. Since Atchison had already exercised his homestead right in

Kansas, Pat Nagle of Kingfisher, attorney for the group, filed on the claim, erected

a small residence, lived there for 6 months and then returned to Kingfisher.

After two stores, restaurant, blacksmith, doctor’s office, and grog shop were

established, the Town Site Co. decided it was time to name the town. Following a

long discussion and several rounds of drinks, E. Bardrick suggested that they take

the first two letters of Oklahoma, the last two of CherokEE and the last two of

CheyenNE, OK-EE- NE, and pronounce it Okeene.

The following June, the Bardrick Brothers erected a building on Main Street and

dug a well where Al’s Hair and Body Repair is located.

The first school was taught in a small tin structure on Main Street, later, a school

building was constructed where the Okeene Milling Co. now stands. F.S.

Christman and P.S. Nagle relinquished forth acres each to the government, and a

government town site was established. The government set aside one block of

land for the Public Schools, now owned by the Catholic Church. Later the town,

preferring a central location, sold this and located where the schools now stand.

On January 2, 1893, the post office was established with David Rupert as the first

postmaster. Early in the life of Okeene, Everett Sylvanius Moody, and his sons,

Charles and Irwin established a telephone system which, on February 4, 1905, was

purchased by citizens of the community and renamed the Mutual Telephone

Company. In 1965, the Pioneer Telephone Cooperative of Kingfisher purchased

the telephone company and continues to service the area.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places is the Okeene Mill which was

built in 1901, with a storage capacity of 16,000 bushels of wheat and production

of 20,000 pounds of flour a day. One of the four mills still operating in Oklahoma,

the Okeene Mill is a part of the Shawnee Milling Company of Shawnee, an

independently owned company. It has a storage capacity today of 300,000

bushels of wheat and production of 310,000 pounds of flour per day.

Both the Rock Island, and the Blackwell, Enid, and Southwestern Railway (later

the Frisco) came to Okeene the same day, September 1, 1901. The Rock Island is

no longer operating. Frisco sold to Burlington Northern, and the section from

Enid to Davidson has since been sold to Farm Rail.

Twelve miles southwest of Okeene is the Southard plant of the United States

Gypsum Company which was founded in 1905 by George F. Southard as

Independence Gypsum Company. In 1912 it was sold to the United States

Gypsum Company. Many employees and retirees make their home in Okeene.

Primarily an agricultural community with the two previously mentioned

industries, the flour and gypsum mill, Okeene now has several businesses located

in the Industrial Park including Seaboard Foods, JOMUS Trucking, Gavino Trucking,

and Mountain Country Pet Care, LLC. Okeene has also had some oil and gas wells

developed in the area.