History of Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City became settled in the year 1889 and this is when the lands that were not assigned were opened for settlement. The event was called The Land Run. There were about 10,000 people who came to settle here and this area in now called Oklahoma City. From the years 1890 - 1900 the population of this city doubled. When Oklahoma was added to the Union in the year 1907, Guthrie had become the capitol for the territory and was now the commercial hub and population center. Settlers Henry Overholser, John Shartel, James Maney, and Anton Classen all chipped in to help the city grow in size and population. There was a trolley system designed as well as a commercial center. There was also a railway hub that played a role in attracting meat packaging plants in addition to some other industries. The city then reached a population of 64,000 and decided to draw up a petition to become the capitol of Oklahoma. There was a vote that was held and one of the advocates that was there was Governor Charles N. Haskell. There was a capitol building that was built at Lincoln Boulevard and 23rd Street. Pre World War 2 Oklahoma City rapidly continued to grow and in December of 1928 oil had been discovered. Soon after, there were oil wells all over the place. There even were pumps on the lawn of the capitol building. Oil money began accelerating the growth of Oklahoma City. There were many who did have the money needed to get out of this Depression but others were not so fortunate. In the year 1935, migrants as well as those who were unemployed developed Hooverville that was located near the North Canadian River. There were often floods at this river and this often led to diseases being brought in as well as depression and misery to individuals. There was a New Deal as well as the Civilian Conservation Corps that helps reduce the level of the river to help reduce the overflow and flooding of the river. However, this is something that would not be good as the town would be faced with a low filled river. Postwar Developments With the 2nd World War as well as the war industries that grew, recovery was soon in sight for the city and to the nation. Oklahoma City became a great hub after the war in the Interstate Highway System. Over time and as the civil rights period dawned, this city was soon the sight of civil rights techniques. From Feb. 3 to July 29th of the year 1964, this city also became subject to 8 sonic booms each and every day as part of an experiment. This experiment was done to help quantify the economic as well as sociological costs of one of these supersonic aircrafts. There were 15,400 claims of damage done and the experiment has a rejection rate of 94% claims. Oklahoma City Bombing In April of 1995, an individual drove a truck loaded with explosives down to the Alfred P. Murrah building. There were 168 people killed in this terrorist attack and 19 of these people were children. There were 680 people who suffered injuries and up until the 911 attacks on the world Trade Centers, this was, and still is considered to be the largest domestic attacks on the soil of the USA.
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