Elk City - "The Heart of the Great State of Oklahoma"
As the website for Elk City's Chamber of Commerce begins, "Pack your bags and hit the mother road to Elk City, Oklahoma, where there is plenty to do that the whole family will enjoy."
Undoubtedly, the most important day in Elk City's history is March 20, 1901. This is the date when the Choctaw Town site and Improvement Co. began selling lots around the territory which would become Elk City. In 1901, Elk Creek officially got its name. It was named after the nearby Elk Creek, which in turn was named for Indian Chief Ell River, who had lived in the area years before.
The Company's officials knowing that the Choctaw and Gulf Railroad were coming this way determined that the sight of our present city would be a perfect spot for a town. True enough, on August 13, 1901, the Choctaw Railroad laid its last rail on the Choctaw route, connecting Elk City with the outside world. The first regular train service commenced seven days later and the people rejoiced at the possibilities of handsome new residences, commodious barns and granaries that prosperity would bring.
By January 1902, Elk City boasted more than 60 businesses and a population exceeding 1,000. With streets paved with bricks began by the city employees, the town became one of the largest in western Oklahoma. It is a place of endless blue skies, rich rolling hills, and champion cowboys that is worth the visit.
Fitting in with our location on Old Route 66, we offer the National Route 66 Museum for your enjoyment. Inside, you will visit all eight states along the "Mother Road" from Illinois to California. Photographs, vintage autos, and recorded personal accounts vividly re-create the hey-day of this historic route.
You can also experience early Oklahoma pioneer life as you visit Victorian house. Visitors will find the lower level of the house filled with early pioneer life, a special Stars and Stripes Room with memorabilia from every war in American history, the Native American Gallery and the Miss America room with treasures from Elk City s own Susan Powell, Miss America 1981.
For those of you who are cowboys at heart, the Flying W Guest Ranch just west of Elk City, offers fun for the whole family from the little buckaroo to the professional cowboy and cowgirl. Guests can take trails rides or have an old fashioned authentic dinner on the chuck wagon.
And, for a great place to relax in the outdoors, Elk City Lake is located just south of our town. The prominent feature of the landscape is the precipitous limestone bluff known as Table Mound. It's a great place to hunt, fish, camp, boat, swim, hike or picnic.
Come and experience Oklahoma for yourself. We at Elk City welcome you!
Sources:
Elk City Chamber of Commerce
Elk City
