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The History of Cordell & Washita County By Claudia GrayOklahoma has been known for the “wind sweeping down the plains.” Cordell and Washita County are no exception to that rule. Imagine in the 1800’s of this area as prairies with roaming buffalo, coyotes, wild turkey, quail, bob cats, in abundance. The prairie land was void of many trees except on the creeks and the Washita River, where the plains Indians camped close to the water of running springs, river and creeks in Washita County. Washita County was the home of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Wichita, Caddo, Delaware, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes. Then came the sod busters to make claims on the lands in Washita County in the land run of 1892. Cordell and Washita County began with Indian camps with teepees and curling smoke from their fires could be seen at night. Today, Cordell, Oklahoma is a retail and agriculture community. The farmers and ranchers raise cattle, wheat, cotton, orchards, vineyards and other crops. Cordell, Oklahoma was established April 20, 1892, during the administration of A J Seay the second Governor of Oklahoma. Cordell originally had a two-story courthouse one-mile east of the present day Washita County Courthouse. The water was full of gypsum and was not drinkable. The two story wood courthouse burned rapidly on August 4, 1909, but most city and county records were saved. In 1910 a brick and stone courthouse was erected at a cost of $75,000.00. Solomon Andrew Layton (the Oklahoma State Capital architect) designed the Washita County Courthouse. Present day tours are available from 8am to 4pm, weekdays. The new courthouse was finished in 1911. Two land owners by the name of J C Harrell and A J Johnson donated land where the present day Town Square is located. The new town site was renamed to “NEW CORDELL”. The section line between the two tracts runs east and west on what is now Cordell’s Main street. In the beginning Washita County was known as “H” county until the settlers voted to name the county after the Washita River, which was an Indian word meaning “muddy”. Washita County is 10,006 square miles. The Cordell Population in 1900 was less than 350. The railroads came to Cordell in 1902, when the Bes Lines (later Frisco, and present day Farm Rail) was constructed through Cordell on it’s way from Enid, Oklahoma to Vernon, Texas. The Bes Lines reached Cordell on February 22, 1902. The businesses and town folks plus all of Washita County threw a huge party celebrating the railroad. The Cordell Beacon was first established at Cloud Chief, Oklahoma in 1897 and today is till publishing a weekly newspaper on Wednesday. When Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907, the Cordell Beacon moved to Cordell, Oklahoma. In 1902 Cordell Commercial Club was established and now is known as the Cordell Chamber of Commerce. It was incorporated with the state of Oklahoma on April 1, 1942. In 1908 Cordell had a population of 2,000 persons. Today, the population of Cordell, Oklahoma is 2,867 by the 2000 census. The Cordell Electric plant was installed in 1910. The Washita County Fair and Poultry has been held in Cordell, Oklahoma almost every year since 1907. In 2001 the fair grounds were complete taken away by a tornado on October 9, 2001. It has since been rebuilt and not only houses the county free fairs, but, now has multiple uses. In 1907 the Oklahoma Christian College was established in Cordell and became one of the town’s greatest assets. (It has closed and no longer standing). The Carnegie Public Library was erected in 1911 and having moved one time to its present location on South College Street. The original library is now our Washita County Museum with over 10,000 Washita county items on view for the public and it is located on First street. Fifty-one blocks of pavement was laid in Cordell in 1925 and in May of 1926, gas was piped in from the Sayre, Oklahoma area, sixty miles west. At one time Cordell had business, homes, one flour mill, four grain elevators, five cotton gins, one ice plant, three picture shows, three banks, a fire department and Florence House Hospital named after Dr. A.H. Bungardt’s wife. Today, Cordell is a thriving business and farming community. Today, you can see most of the original buildings built at the turn-of-the-century. In the late 1990’s Cordell began to preserve many of the original buildings around the square. Progress to restoring existing buildings is still in progress today. The latest face lift is the Cordell Beacon and Wesner, Wesner, & Rainbolt, attorney’s office. Today, the Washita County Courthouse (1911) still houses court, tax collections, election board, assessors, Red River bus and more. The courthouse can be described as the “diamond” in Cordell as it sits in the middle of the historic downtown square. The clock still chimes on the hour. Past Governor George Nigh proclaimed the Washita County Courthouse as the “Grandfather courthouse” in the state. Cordell has always been known as the “Friendly City”. Come see us, see how history and time stands still. Cordell, Oklahoma moves at a slower pace and a great town for older retired couples as there is low crime, housing is reasonable and a wonderful school system for families. Cordell has Vo-Tech’s as close as 18 miles. Come to Cordell, Oklahoma and sit-a-spell. |
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41 Motel
719 E. Main St. Cordell, Ok 73632
580-832-3377 |
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