OKLAHOMA
County Courthouses

Courthouse List Home Bibliography
While in the process of completing the photos of the Texas courthouses, it occurred to me that there was very little information available on Oklahoma County Courthouses. There were several web sites about Texas courthouses, as well as courthouses of other states, but not much could be found on the subject from my native state. So I started crossing the Oklahoma border on some of my photo journeys in Texas and also stopped in Oklahoma county seats along the way to and from visits with family members and friends.  All 77 counties were completed in 2006.

The Courthouse List Page is indexed by the County Name, the County Seat, and by the Architect's Name.  


OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY
  • 1803. The Louisiana Purchase included most of present day Oklahoma. The U.S. Secretary of State, James Madison, paid France 15 million dollars for the land.
  • 1804. Lewis and Clark expeditions to Oklahoma - Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770- 1838).
  • 1817-42. Many different tribes from the great Indian Nations were forced to move from their homelands and were granted land in Indian Territory.
  • 1821 Sante Fe Trail & Texas Road cross Oklahoma.
  • 1824 Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma's first fort, was established.
  • 1832-1839 - Removal of the Seminole, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek Indians, known as the "Five Civilized Tribes", to Indian Territory. Many died making this journey and it became know as"The Trail of Tears."
  • 1865-85 Chisholm Trail & other cattle trails cross Oklahoma.
  • 1869 Ft. Sill is established on Medicine Creek.
  • 1870 Coal mining started near the city of McAlester.
  • 1870 MK&T rail service begins in Indian Territory.
  • 1889 Indian Territory was split in half with the western half becoming Oklahoma Territory and Guthrie designiated as the Territorial Capitol. Unassigned Lands were opened to white settlement by land runs, lotteries, and auctions. The first land run was held April 22, 1889. At exactly noon, a cannon boom signaled the start of the run which opened the Unassigned Lands for settlement.
  • 1890s Colleges created in Norman, Stillwater, and Edmond.
  • 1891 The Sac and Fox, Pottawatomie-Shawnee lands, located just east of the original run site, were opened for settlement on September 21.
  • 1892 The Cheyenne and Arapaho lands in western Oklahoma were opened for settlement by land run on April 19.
  • 1893 The largest and most spectacular land run in northern Oklahoma, the Cherokee Strip, was held on September 16.
  • 1895 On May 23rd, the Kickapoo Land Run was held in central Oklahoma.
  • 1902 First Streetcars Installed in Oklahoma Territories.
  • 1905 The Five Civilized Tribes attempted statehood under the name Sequoyah but was rejected by Congress.
  • 1907 Oklahoma admitted into the Union as the 46th State with Guthrie as the Capitol. Oklahoma's name is derived from two Choctaw words, "okla" meaning people, and "humma" meaning red; literally meaning "red people."
  • 1910 State Capitol moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City.
  • 1917 State Capitol Building was completed at a cost of $1,500,000. The construction of the dome was postponed due to material shortages during World War I. The delay became a long one as the dome was not added until 2002.
  • There are 39 tribes and nations of American Indians with headquarters in Oklahoma. Descendants of the original 67 tribes inhabiting Indian Territory still live in the state.