Pink, Oklahoma facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pink, Oklahoma
Town
Location of Pink, Oklahoma
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Pottawatomie
Area
• Total	36.12 sq mi (93.54 km2)
• Land	36.12 sq mi (93.54 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	1,079 ft (329 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,091
• Density	57.90/sq mi (22.35/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	74873
Area code(s)	405/572
FIPS code	40-59150
GNIS feature ID	2413137

Pink is a town in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. Pink is the only town in the U.S. with this name. It is located within the lands of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

In 2020, the town's population was 2,091 people. This was a small increase from 2,058 people in 2010. The population had grown a lot between 2000 and 2010.

The name "Pink" might have been chosen because it went well with the nearby town of Brown. Brown is now part of Pink. This was a trend in Pottawatomie County, like the towns of Romulus and Remus. Some stories say the town was named after a local person called Pink.

Pink was hit by a strong tornado on April 19, 2023.

History of Pink

Early People in the Area

Archaeologists have found signs that people lived near Pink for thousands of years. This includes a time about 8,500 years ago when a long drought made much of Oklahoma a desert. The Thunderbird Dam Site, west of Pink, was used by hunters from around 500 BC to 1000 AD. It was a good camping spot because it was near water and had many deer and turkeys.

Oklahoma's Beginnings: 1800s

The land that is now Oklahoma became part of the United States in 1803. This happened with the Louisiana Purchase. Later, in 1830, the Indian Removal Act allowed the U.S. President to make treaties with Native American tribes. Many tribes, including the Five Civilized Tribes, were moved to Indian Territory.

Citizen Potawatomi Nation

The Potawatomi people were forced to move many times. First, they were pushed west to the Lake Michigan area before 1640. Then, during the Indian Removal, they were forced out of their homes again. The Potawatomi from Indiana moved to Kansas and became known as the Mission Potawatomi. They later became U.S. citizens and formed the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

In 1867, the Citizen Potawatomi sold their land in Kansas. They bought new land in Indian Territory. This land would later become Pottawatomie County, where Pink is located.

When the Potawatomi arrived, they found the Shawnee living on their new land. These Shawnee had been living along the Canadian River since about 1845. They were called the Absentee Shawnee. In 1872, the U.S. Congress gave the Absentee Shawnee legal rights to the land they were using.

Later, the Dawes Act of 1887 forced many tribes, including the Citizen Potawatomi and Absentee Shawnee, to accept individual land plots. After these plots were given out, the remaining land was opened to settlers. This led to the Land Run of 1891, which included the area where Pink would be built.

Absentee Shawnee People

One group of Absentee Shawnee, led by Big Jim (Wapameepto), did not want to live like white settlers. They feared losing their traditions. They had been living north of the North Canadian River. In 1886, soldiers forced them to move south to a place near Shawneetown. Their old homes were burned. They spent the winter without shelter.

By 1889, it was clear their new land would also be divided and sold. Big Jim's Band moved to what they thought was the most distant and least valuable part of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. They hoped the sandy hills near Hog Creek and Little River would be left alone. But in 1890, they were forced to accept 80-acre plots of land.

This community was called Big Jim Settlement. It later became Little Axe in Cleveland County. The original center of the settlement was flooded in 1965 when Lake Thunderbird was built. This made Big Jim's "worthless" land into a popular state park. Some of the easternmost land plots given to Big Jim's Band are now part of Pink.

The Land Run of 1891

People rushing for land in Oklahoma in 1891

On September 22, 1891, a second Oklahoma land run began. President Benjamin Harrison announced it. This opened up 6,097 homesteads, each 160 acres, in what would become Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. The U.S. Government paid the Citizen Potawatomi and Absentee Shawnee for this land.

People who claimed a homestead had to pay $1.50 per acre. They also had to live on the land for at least five years. Many settlers from Texas and other Southern states came to claim land suitable for growing cotton.

Challenges for Early Settlers

Early settlers in Pottawatomie County faced many problems. Unlike other parts of Oklahoma, this area already had Native American tribes with livestock. There were no trains or telegraph lines in Pottawatomie County at first.

The county also had problems with outlaws. These included groups like the High Five Gang and the Doolin-Dalton Gang. They used the county as a hiding place. Horse stealing was a big problem for farmers. Outlaws used special trails and "stations" to move stolen horses far away. Farmers found it hard to keep enough animals for their farms.

In 1900, the Tecumseh Republican newspaper suggested forming an Anti Horse Thief Association. This group would help farmers who had their horses stolen.

First Residents and Pink's Post Office

Some of the first Native American families to receive land plots in Pink in 1891 included Rufus Coons, Nellie McCoy, and John Coons. A stone foundation on Nellie McCoy's land shows where a home likely stood. This land later became part of a property called Wicklow, which was built in 1980. Part of this property is now the "Nellie McCoy Nature Reserve." It protects local plants and animals, as well as Native American and pioneer history.

The town of Pink started sometime after the land run, before 1894. The U.S. Post Office Department opened a post office in Pink in January 1894. Joseph Fahnestock was supposed to be the first postmaster, but he declined. Thomas M. McKittrick took the job the next month. The post office moved a few times and was closed permanently in 1906. Today, the Tecumseh post office serves Pink.

A cemetery was once located at Fishmarket Road and Willow View Road. The gravestones were removed for development, and the graves were likely not moved. Many early Pink residents are buried in Black Cemetery or Brown Cemetery.

Brown, a town about three miles east of Pink, was named after George Brown. He was its first postmaster. Brown had a cotton gin, stores, a school, and doctors. Brown has since become part of Pink.

Early Maps and Transportation

Early maps of the area, like one from 1891, only showed Shawneetown (now Shawnee). Pink appeared on maps later, around 1898. The Pink School was built before 1910.

Unlike other places, Pink did not have railroads nearby. The closest train lines were about 10 miles away. This meant Pink was less important for trade and travel in an age when railroads were key.

However, an important east-west road developed early in Pink. Farmers used it to transport cotton to Norman. This road later became Highway 9 and was paved in 1941.

Early Businesses and Farming

By 1928, Pink's town center was near Fishmarket Road and Highway 9. Walter Reuben Stapp, a blacksmith, ran a gristmill. Osco A. Miller had a general store. Agriculture was very important to Pink. By 1907, nearly a quarter of Oklahoma's farmed land grew cotton. Cotton gins processed the cotton, and cottonseed oil mills made products like cooking oil.

In 1935, the main types of farming in Pink were general farming, cotton, livestock, dairy, and poultry.

Farming Challenges and Oil

Early farmers cut down pecan trees without knowing how valuable the nuts were. By 1935, pecans became the second largest cash crop in the county.

Many soils around Pink erode easily. Intense farming reduced the land's ability to grow crops and increased soil erosion. Like many places in Oklahoma, farming declined by the 1930s. Today, livestock farming and homes are the main uses of the land.

Erosion and poor soil caused some residents to move to other parts of the county. They looked for better land, more rain, and work in oil production. By 1936, the western half of the county, including Pink, had fewer people than in 1908.

Some oil fields were developed around Pink in the early 1900s. Production went down over the years. However, after 2000, new oil wells were drilled.

Geography of Pink

Pink is located at 35.232145 degrees North latitude and -97.107072 degrees West longitude. The town covers about 26.0 square miles (67.3 square kilometers) of land.

The Cross Timbers Region

Pink is in the Cross Timbers region. This area has low, rolling hills covered with a mix of pastures, rangeland, and forests. It has some of the most untouched forests in the U.S. Pink is about 40 minutes from Oklahoma City on State Highway 9. It's located between Tecumseh and Norman.

The Cross Timbers is a special area that stretches from Kansas to Texas. It has millions of old trees, some 200 to 400 years old. These trees survived because the land was not good for farming. Some parts of the ancient post oak forest look just as they did 6,000 years ago.

Washington Irving, a famous American author, visited Indian Territory in 1832. He wrote about the Cross Timbers in his book A Tour on the Prairies. He described it as a rough country with hills and scattered oak trees. He noted that the dry grass and trees often caught fire from Indian hunters.

The hills and ridges around Pink are naturally covered with oak trees, grasslands, and tall prairie grasses. Fire control has led to more dense forests and the growth of eastern redcedar trees.

Climate and Weather

Pink has a humid subtropical climate. This means the weather can change often, except in the consistently hot and sometimes humid summer months. The area can have long, severe droughts, which sometimes cause wildfires. But it can also have very heavy rain, leading to flash floods.

Winds, usually from the south or southwest in summer, help cool the hot weather. Cold periods in winter can be made stronger by northerly winds. Ice storms and snowstorms happen sometimes in winter.

The average temperature in Pink is about 61°F (16.1°C). In August, the average high is 94°F (34.4°C). In January, the average low is 26°F (-3.3°C). The growing season for plants lasts about 212 days.

Pink gets about 39 inches (99 cm) of rain each year. It averages about one inch (2.54 cm) of snow. Thunderstorms happen about 49 days a year, mostly in spring and summer.

Pink is in Tornado Alley, a place known for frequent and strong tornadoes. The severe weather season is from March to June, especially in April and May. The area also gets severe hailstorms.

Scientists have studied old post oak trees in the Cross Timbers. These trees show what the weather was like for the past 350 years. They show times of heavy rain, like from 1813-1850, and long droughts, like in the 1850s. This drought was even worse than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

A tornado damaged the Pink Baptist Church on May 3, 1999. On May 10, 2010, three tornadoes touched down, causing homes to be destroyed and widespread tree and hail damage.

Population Information

In 2010, Pink had 2,058 people living in 732 households. About 567 of these were families. The population density was about 44.9 people per square mile (17.3 per km²).

Most residents (84.5%) were White. About 8.6% were Native American, and 4% were Hispanic or Latino.

In 2010, 30.7% of households had children under 18. Most households (61.6%) were married couples. The average household had 2.81 people.

The median age in Pink was 38.4 years. About 27.3% of the population was under 18. About 11.4% were 65 or older.

In 2012, the median income for a household in Pink was $46,588. About 15.7% of the population lived below the poverty line.

Town Government

Oklahoma City started expanding into Pottawatomie County in 1962. To protect itself from being taken over by larger cities, Pink officially became a town in the late 1960s. This stopped Oklahoma City and Norman from expanding further into western Pottawatomie County.

In 1977, Pink built a town hall and fire station. A Senior Citizens Center was added later. The town keeps a rural lifestyle by requiring large lot sizes for homes, usually at least two and a half acres.

The Town of Pink is led by a mayor and representatives from five different areas called wards. The town has grown over time through small additions of land.

Here are the members of the Board of Trustees for the Town of Pink in 2024:

• Ward 1: Lisa Van Liew, who is also the Mayor and Clerk/Treasurer
• Ward 2: Vincent Hall
• Ward 3: David Dunn
• Ward 4: Mike Green, who is the Vice Mayor
• Ward 5: David Owens

Education in Pink

Most of Pink is part of the Tecumseh Public Schools district. This district provides education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Some areas in the north are served by Bethel Public Schools. Parts of southern Pink are in Macomb Public Schools, and western parts are in Little Axe Public Schools.

For higher education, the University of Oklahoma in Norman and Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee are both about a 20-minute drive away.

Culture and Community

Pink has several churches. Pink Baptist Church was formed on June 12, 1949. Its first building was damaged by a tornado in 1999. A new sanctuary was dedicated in 2002. Pink Holiness Church is also nearby.

Camp Sooner is a retreat center owned by Independent Christian Churches. It offers cabins, a dining hall, a swimming pool, and activities in a Christian setting.

Health Services

Health care is available in nearby Tecumseh, Shawnee, and Norman. The Little Axe Health Center serves Native Americans, Soonercare members, and insured Absentee Shawnee Tribal employees.

Transportation in Pink

Pink does not have public transportation. Residents need cars to get around because it is a rural area.

Passenger train service is available on the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, Texas. You can catch this train at the Norman Amtrak station. There are plans to expand this service north to Newton, Kansas. This would connect to the Southwest Chief line, which goes to Los Angeles and Chicago.

The closest commercial airport is Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.

Highway 9, which runs through Pink, was widened to four lanes. This project involved buying land and moving utilities starting in 2020 and was completed in 2025.

See also

In Spanish: Pink (Oklahoma) para niños