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October 25 -- Muskgee To Paul's Valley


Love's Travel Center

Paul's Valley, Oklahoma

October 26, 2022












Muskogee is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately 48 miles southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease from 39,223 in 2010.


History


French fur traders were believed to have established a temporary village near the future Muskogee in 1806, but the first permanent European-American settlement was established in 1817 on the south bank of the Verdigris River, north of present-day Muskogee.

After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, the Muscogee Creek Indians were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" forced out of the American Southeast to Indian Territory. They were accompanied by their slaves. The Indian Agency, a two-story stone building, was built here in Muskogee. It was a site for meetings among the leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes. Today it serves as a museum. At the top of what is known as Agency Hill, it is within Honor Heights Park on the west side of Muskogee.


In 1872, the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was extended to the area. A federal court was established in Muskogee in 1889, around the same time that Congress opened portions of Indian Territory to non-Native settlers via land rushes. The city was incorporated on March 19, 1898.


Ohio native Charles N. Haskell moved to the city in March 1901. He was instrumental in building on the land rush; he stimulated expansion of the city of more than 4,000 people to a center of business and industry by 1910, with a population of more than 25,000 inhabitants. Haskell built the first five-story business block in Oklahoma Territory; he built and owned fourteen brick buildings in the city. Most importantly, he organized and built most of the railroads running into the city, which connected it to other markets and centers of population, stimulating its business and retail, and attracting new residents.


As Muskogee's economic and business importance grew, so did its political power. In the years before the territory was admitted as a state, the Five Civilized Tribes continued to work on alternatives to keep some independence from European Americans. They met together August 21, 1905 to propose the State of Sequoyah, to be controlled by Native Americans. They met in Muskogee to draft its constitution, planning to have Muskogee serve as the State's capital. The proposal was vetoed by US President Theodore Roosevelt and mostly ignored by Congress; the proposed State of Sequoyah was never authorized. The US admitted the State of Oklahoma to the Union on November 16, 1907 as the 46th state.

Muskogee was the operational headquarters of the Muskogee Roads, four regional rail carriers under common management. The first was the Midland Valley Railroad, chartered in 1903. The three carriers surviving until 1963 were sold to the Texas & Pacific, which was a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad.


Muskogee was on the route of the Jefferson Highway established in 1915. That road ran more than 2,300 miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to New Orleans, Louisiana.


Muskogee attracted national and international attention when, in May 2008, voters elected John Tyler Hammons as mayor. Nineteen years old at the time of his election, Hammons is among the youngest mayors in American history.


Muskogee is an economic center for eastern Oklahoma, and is home to several industrial activities. Georgia-Pacific has a tissue, paper towel, and napkin manufacturing plant in Muskogee. The 2.9 million square foot facility is Muskogee's largest employer with 800 workers.




Boynton is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. The population was 248 at the 2010 census, a 9.5 percent decline from the figure of 274 recorded in 2000.


History


Boynton was built in 1903 with the coming of the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The post office was named for E. L. Boynton, chief engineer of the Missouri Coal and Railroad Company.[5] Boosted by an oil refinery and a brick factory, the town reached a peak population of 1,400 in the 1920 census. By 2000 the population had declined to 274.[6][7][8] The local school district, Boynton-Moton Public Schools, closed its high school in September 2010; in March 2011, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to revoke the district's accreditation and close the lower school as of June 2011.


As of the census of 2000, there were 274 people, 112 households, and 76 families residing in the town. The population density was 663.1 inhabitants per square mile (256.0/km2). There were 139 housing units at an average density of 336.4 per square mile (129.9/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 27.37% White, 55.11% African American, 6.20% Native American, 0.36% from other races, and 10.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.


There were 112 households, out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.3% were married couples living together, 21.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.09.


In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.1 males.


The median income for a household in the town was $17,917, and the median income for a family was $25,000. Males had a median income of $25,417 versus $15,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,419. About 22.4% of families and 25.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.6% of those under the age of eighteen and 13.0% of those 65 or over.


Economy


The local economy is based on agricultural services.






Henryetta is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. The population was 5,927 at the 2010 census, down 9.6 percent from the figure of 6,096 recorded in 2000.


History


Hugh Henry established a ranch on Creek Nation land in 1885. He soon found a deposit of coal, which he began using to fuel the forge at his ranch. Discovery of more coal deposits in the large Henryetta Coal Formation attracted several railroads to develop these mines. A settlement named Furrs grew up around the mines. The name changed to Henryetta when a post office opened on August 28, 1900.


At statehood in 1907, Henryetta had 1,051 residents. The economy was based on agriculture, coal, natural gas and oil. In 1909, the area had fourteen coal mines, producing 65,000 tons per month. By 1910, the population had grown to 1,671. The town added a broom factory, several brick factories and a bottling plant during the 1920s. By the time of the Thirty-sixth annual report of the Department of Mines and Minerals in 1943, combined yearly production by Acme Coal Company, Atlas Coal Company, Ben Hurr Coal Company, Starr Coal Company, and Wardin-Pullen Coal Company-- all of Henryetta-- was over 600,000 tons.


Henryetta's manufacturing base continued to expand. Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) built a plate glass window plant in Henryetta in 1929–30, employing nine hundred people and claiming to be the largest west of the Mississippi River. The factory closed in 1974, but was purchased and refitted for making glass containers, and continues in operation by Anchor Glass Container.


Eagle-Picher placed a massive zinc smelting facility in the Spelter City area of town, which continued through the 1960’s. The company also employed more than seven hundred people at its plant that extracted the rare metal germanium. The plant has since closed and become a Superfund cleanup site.


Besides Anchor Glass, current employers include the international oilfield-services company Shawcor; Henryetta Pallet, a regional wood pallet manufacturer; and, G&H Decoy, a waterfowl decoy manufacturer since 1934.


Notable people


Henryetta is notable as the high school hometown of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. Other famous former and current residents include actress Alice Ghostley (Bewitched, Grease, Designing Women), Broadway actor Jeremy Hays (The Phantom of The Opera, Les Misérables), as well as rodeo favorites Jim Shoulders and Terry Don West.


Events


Henryetta has two large annual rodeos, being the Jim Shoulders Spring Roundup Rodeo in June and the Living Legends Rodeo over Labor Day Weekend.







Weleetka is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. It is approximately 10 miles southeast of Okemah, the county seat. The name is a Creek word meaning "running water."The population was 998 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1.6 percent from the figure of 1,014 in 2000.


History


According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the present town of Weleetka was founded by three men from other communities who were having difficulty surviving in the newspaper business. These men, George F. Clarke of Vinita, Lake Moore of Fairland and John Jacobs of Holdenville, decided in 1899 to form a partnership and find a new town where they might find prosperity together. They had already learned that the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (SL&SF or "Frisco") was building a line southward from Sapulpa, Indian Territory, to Denison, Texas. Clarke and Moore knew that the Fort Smith and Western Railway was laying a line westward from Indian Territory to Guthrie, in Oklahoma Territory. The partners decided to establish a town at the junction of the two railroads. The partners selected a suitable town site on a hill just north of the Canadian River that was owned by Martha Lowe, a Creek Indian who had received an allotment. Someone suggested that the partners name the new site, "Weleetka", a Creek word that meant "running water" in English.


The partners began selling townsite lots for 40 dollars each on February 10, 1902. Within a day, they had netted enough to pay Mrs. Lowe for her land as well as cover their other expenses. On the following day, the First Bank of Weleetka opened for business. By the time it closed that evening, it held $3,000 in deposits. Business continued to be brisk, and a Weleetka post office was established on March 14, 1902.


The surrounding area was mostly devoted to agriculture, where farmers produced cotton, wheat, oats, alfalfa, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, and pecans. Later, it became known for production of oil and gas. The town had a population of 1,020 at statehood in 1907. By 1930, it could boast of having 2,042 people. It also had two hotels, three cotton gins, a cotton compress, three drug stores, an opera house, and a mercantile company.


Weleetka was once a major railroad town, serving as the division point for the Fort Smith and Western Railway. All train crews changed out in Weleetka; the town also housed major shops and repair facilities for the steam locomotives. Headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Fort Smith and Western was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The railroad's main line extended 217 miles, from Ft. Smith through Weleetka to Guthrie. The Fort Smith and Western owned a subsidiary, St. Louis, El Reno and Western, which began operating 42 miles between Guthrie and El Reno, Oklahoma in June 1904. The railroad also acquired 32.5 miles of trackage rights over the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad from Fallis, Oklahoma to Oklahoma City.


The railroad supported much of the business and hotels of the city in the first half of the 1900s. Trains entering town from the East were switched and broken down in Weleetka, and dispatched northwest for either Oklahoma City, Guthrie or El Reno. Due to the railroad yard in Weleetka, the single westbound train could thus become two westbound trains. The reverse was true for eastbound trains. Weleetka was vital to the life of the railroad. The railroad provided regular passenger service and at one time boasted through Pullman sleeping cars to and from St. Louis and Oklahoma City. The route of the FS&W served no major population centers, but did serve major coal mining operations in eastern Oklahoma at Coal Creek, Bokoshe, and McCurtain. Other towns served included Crowder, Okemah, Boley, Prague, Vernon, Indianola and Meridian. A major portion of the road's freight traffic was metallurgical-grade coal from San Bois Coal Company mines near McCurtain. As coal traffic declined, an oil discovery near Okemah brought additional traffic, which postponed the abandonment of the railroad. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad withdrew trackage rights between Fallis and Oklahoma City in January 1939 after FS&W defaulted on rental fees, and when the Fort Smith and Western ceased operations on February 9, 1939, Weleetka lost its major employer.


Beginning in 1930, both cotton production and railroad service declined, followed by a steady loss of population throughout the 20th Century. Weleetka remained a trading center for its area, and in 2000, there were still 1,014 residents. Ten churches, a school system, and a weekly newspaper, the Weleetkan, served the community. The Weleetka Town Hall and Jail were included in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma (NR 93000156). The 2010 population had declined further to 998.



Wetumka is a city in northern Hughes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,282 at the 2010 census, a decline of 11.7 percent from the figure of 1,451 recorded in 2000. First settled by the Muscogee Creek after removal in the 1830s, they named it for their ancestral town of Wetumpka, in Alabama. Wetumka is a Muskogee language word meaning "rumbling waters."


In the 21st century, it is the headquarters for two federally recognized tribes, the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town and the Kialegee Tribal Town. The town holds Sucker Day annually, on the last Saturday in September.


History


The St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway built a line from Sapulpa, Oklahoma through Wetumka to the Red River in 1900-1901. Wetumka prospered as a major shipping point for cotton, corn, pecans, and livestock produced by farmers in the surrounding area. By 1909, the community had three banks, two cotton gins, three blacksmith shops, two liveries, and a tin shop. Early newspapers included the Wetumka News-Herald, the Wetumka News, the Wetumka Herald, and the Wetumka Gazette. A two-story building constructed in 1912 housed the city hall and the Masonic Lodge.


By 1918, four cotton gins, a mill and elevator, a wagonyard, an ice company, and a water and light company had joined the list of businesses open in Wetumka. The 1920 census reported that the population had jumped from 231 in 1910 to 1422 in 1920. Growth would continue through 1950. Since then a long-term decline has lasted through the 2010 census as agriculture has needed fewer workers.


The Wetumka oil field opened in 1919. A crowd of oil workers poured into town. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture estimates the number of temporary workers brought the total city population to about 4,000. However, the 1920 census does not support this number. There was sufficient activity to cause the railroad to build a large freight warehouse in April 1925. A three-story hotel opened in June of that year. With the booming economy, the city paved the streets and added three rooms to the school building.

Perhaps the most significant sign of growth was that the citizens petitioned Governor Jack C. Walton to designate Wetumka as a city of the "first class". Walton signed the proclamation on May 21, 1923, and the city held an election on June 26, 1925 for a mayor, a city marshal, and council members.


By 1930, oil and agriculture were the dominant employers in Wetumka's economy, with five cotton gins and twelve oil companies operating. The city had added nine churches, a park, a lake, and a junior college. Railey Manufacturing Company provided employment to workers who crafted wood flooring and doors. Municipal plants provided water and electricity, Oklahoma Natural Gas supplied gas, and Southwestern State Telephone furnished phone service. But in the 1930s, cotton production began a major decline.


During World War II, the Army operated a prisoner-of-war camp for German prisoners. This closed in 1945 after the end of the war. The city-owned Wetumka General Hospital opened in March 1960. In March 1973 a municipal complex opened to replace city hall, which had been destroyed by fire on November 13, 1971. By the 1970s all cotton gins were defunct.


Activities


Wetumka was conned by a man named F. Bam Morrison in 1950, and the town laughs about it each year through a celebration called Sucker Day. The event has arts and crafts, music, and a parade of antique cars, tractors, and horses.There is also a ”poker run” for motorcyclists and other participants.


Wetumka Lake, a/k/a Lake Wetumka, offering boat ramps/docks, a fishing dock, picnic areas, a playground, and primitive camping sites, is to the north. Brooks Lake is to the southeast.






Wewoka is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma. The population was 3,271 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Seminole County


Founded by a freedman, John Coheia, and Black Seminoles in January, 1849, Wewoka is the capital of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.


History


Wewoka's history begins with Freedman John Horse, who was also known as Gopher John. In the spring of 1849, Horse and a group of Black Seminoles founded a settlement near modern-day Wewoka.[6] Seeking safety and autonomy from the Creek Nation, they established a community located at the falls of a small stream, lying in the fertile lands between the North and South Canadian Rivers. The steady rush of water over the falls gave rise to the name We-Wo-Ka – meaning "Barking Water" in the Mvskoke (Seminole) language. Other historians say he named the settlement Wewokea after Osceola's second wife who was of both Seminole and African ancestry.


In autumn of 1849, Horse and Seminole chief Wild Cat led Seminole families into Mexico to avoid the attempts of slavers to raid families and capture people of African descent. The Mexican government offered Wild Cat, Horse and other Seminoles land in Mexico if they could rid the land of renegades who were terrorizing Mexican citizens. Wild Cat was the next hereditary chief of the Seminole Nation but the government appointed its first chief John Jumper instead. The descendants of Wildcat and his band were split for a time between Wewoka, Texas, and Mexico until 1918.


The city was founded in 1866 when Elijah J. Brown, an employee of the federal government led Seminole refugees from Leroy, Kansas to Indian Territory. During the American Civil War, the Seminole Nation had sided with the Confederacy, although many tribe members fled to the relative safety of Kansas, where they remained for the duration of the war. In 1866, after the Confederacy surrendered, the United States government required the Seminole Nation to sign a new treaty, which required them to emancipate their slaves, give freedmen who wanted to stay in the territory full rights as citizens, including voting in the tribe. Brown led the refugees back to Wewoka, here he built himself a house and established a trading post. Freedmen settled in Wewoka along with the Seminole and Elijah Brown was the only legal white settler in the town. The trading post had several subsequent proprietors before it was bought by two Seminole brothers, John Frippo Brown and A. J. Brown, and became the Wewoka Trading Company in 1891. Rev. James Ross Ramsey, a Presbyterian missionary, founded the Ramsey Mission (considered the first school in present Seminole County) in 1866. A post office was established on May 13, 1867 with E. J. Brown as first postmaster. The Seminole Nation made Wewoka their capital city and Seminole Governor John Brown had a log house erected at Wewoka as the Seminole capitol in 1877.


During the existence of the Seminole Nation as a political entity, the federal government was required by treaty to make payments directly to qualified tribe members. A popular sight was the pay wagon, accompanied by several armed Seminole light horsemen who rapidly unloaded the gold bullion, silver coins and paper money, and make a mad dash from the train station to the Wewoka Trading Company building, where it was delivered to A. J. Brown, who was also the Treasurer of the Seminole Nation. Brown kept the bulk payment in the company vault until he distributed it directly to the proper recipients.


The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (C O & G) built a railroad line from McAlester to Oklahoma City that passed through Wewoka.


The city was formally platted in 1897. The Seminole National Council ordered that decreed that the lots could be sold only to American Indians. However, the decision was overturned in 1902 and sales were opened to white settlers.


In 1907, Wewoka became part of the state of Oklahoma, which was admitted to the union. In 1908 it was designated as the county seat of Seminole County, Oklahoma, winning out in an election against the city of Seminole, Oklahoma. Early newspapers were the Wewoka Herald, Wewoka Democrat, and the Seminole County Capital.


The city developed around the house that Andrew Jackson Brown and his wife Mannie Lou built at 11th Avenue and Muskogee. Brown was the brother of Seminole Governor John Brown and the two owned and operated the Wewoka Trading Company. They were prominent Seminole of Creek and Scottish ancestry. Descendants included two prominent Seminole chiefs, Lucy Brown McKellop and her husband John F. McKellop. The house still stands, the last remaining structure of the Nineteenth Seminole Republic. It straddles the border between the Seminole and Creek nations and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


On 16 March 1923, oil was discovered two miles southeast of Wewoka by R. H. Smith, part of the Greater Seminole Oil Field. Great wealth was realized by many Seminole in 1925 with the exploration of the Magnolia Petroleum Company. In the 1920s and 30s the great Seminole Oil Fields were the largest suppliers of oil anywhere in the world. In 1925 the population of Wewoka was 1,520. By 1927 the population increased to over 20,000, as adventurers and workers came, to make their fortunes. It rapidly had become the third-largest city in Oklahoma.


From 1927 to the present, the oil companies took out as much as they could get. As the oil decreased, jobs and people left the city. By 1950 the population of Wewoka was 6,753 and in 1960 it was 6,300. The population continued a steady decline, but the city has continued as the commercial center of the region. The 1980s and 1990s were difficult for the city. Businesses left town and poverty greatly increased.


The city leaders tried to protect themselves by refusing to allow competition, like Wal-Mart, to enter the city. Holdenville and Seminole do have Wal-Mart stores. Seminole's Wal-Mart has the super-center configuration offering groceries as well as dry goods.


The crime rate in Wewoka during the 1980s increased; the radio commentator Paul Harvey called Wewoka "Little Chicago," because it had a higher crime rate per capita than the city of Chicago. The violence in the city caused people to avoid coming to Wewoka and gave the city a reputation that continues to linger.


By the mid 1990s, new leadership began to turn commerce around in the city. The police force was increased and began to get crime rate under control. The crime rate by 2001 was below average for the state of Oklahoma. The historic downtown received a face lift of new sidewalks, streets, lights and flowers. Wewoka was selected as one of Channel 5's Top Five Cities in 2004.


The city of Wewoka continues to work to attract businesses and maintain population. The current population of Wewoka is just over 3,500. The projections show that the city will continue to decrease in the coming years. The ethnic diversity continues, with 52% white, 22% American Indian and 18% African American. The average household income is approximately $37,000 a year, a substantial increase over 2002. According to the demographic comparison, the number of households is decreasing, but the income of those living in Wewoka is increasing.


Economy

The first successful oil well in the Wewoka area, Betsy Foster Number One, began producing in March, 1923, leading to a boom in the population of oil field workers. Lake Wewoka was built as a reservoir to assure the city water supply, and an amusement park at the lake soon followed. Agriculture was a major component of the Wewoka economy, with important products being cotton, peaches, peanuts, pecans, and Silvermine variety of corn. Cattle raising was also important. Although the population declined significantly during and right after World War II, it began to stabilize later in the 20th century. Major employers in the city have included Wewoka Brick Company, the Wewoka Packing Plant, the Oklahoma Clothing Manufacturing Company, Lillian Russell (dress manufacturing), Acker Industries (steel products), and Plasteck Central (aircraft parts).





Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North Carolina native who married a Chickasaw woman and became a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation before the Civil War. The town economy is largely based on agriculture and oil production.


History


The area that eventually became the city of Pauls Valley was one of the earliest European-American settlements in what was then known as Indian Territory. Smith Paul, born in 1809 in New Bern, North Carolina, discovered the fertile bottom land which is now Pauls Valley while a member of a wagon train traveling to California. Paul described the land as "a section where the bottom land was rich and blue stem grass grew so high that a man on horseback was almost hidden in its foliage."


The Tri-Party Treaty of January 1, 1837, ceded this part of what is now the State of Oklahoma to the Chickasaw Nation. When the Chickasaw people were relocated to Indian Territory that year, Smith Paul moved with them and married Ela-Teecha, a Chickasaw woman. In 1847, the Pauls established a plantation on the rich Garvin County bottom land, where Rush Creek joined the Washita River, which became known to locals as "Smith Paul's Valley". Mail to the Pauls was often addressed to "Smith Paul's Large Farm". By 1871, postal service was established in the area, although the post office was designated "Paul's Valley, Arkansas", because the Indian Territory was being administered out of Arkansas at that time.


The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (a.k.a. Santa Fe Railway) shortened the name to "Paul's Valley" when it built a track through the community in 1887, completing its connection between Kansas and the Gulf Coast. The railroad brought growth and prosperity to Smith Paul's Valley. The first newspaper was published in 1887. The Pauls Valley town site was laid out in 1892, though the plat was not approved by the Dawes Commission until 1903.

At the time of its founding, Pauls Valley was located in Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation.

A U.S. courthouse was built in 1895. The first white school in Indian Territory was established, and brick buildings were built downtown. In 1909, the streets were bricked. Today, Pauls Valley has more brick streets—17,986 square yards —than any other town in the United States.


From 1948–1954, Pauls Valley was home to the Pauls Valley Raiders, a minor league baseball team. The Pauls Valley Raiders were a member of the Class D Sooner State League and an affiliate of the New York Giants (1952–1953). The Pauls Valley Raiders played at Wacker Park.


When the Santa Fe Railway discontinued its Lone Star route in 1979, the 1905 building fell into disuse. By 1985, the BNSF Railway (which had bought the Santa Fe Railway, had obtained a permit to raze the old depot. Adrienne Grimmet, who was then president of the Pauls Valley Historical Society, started a campaign to save the old structure. Her efforts resulted in the city buying the depot from BNSF and turning it over to the historical society for conversion into a museum. Individuals donated their time and skills, and local businesses either donated or discounted the cost of materials to perform the necessary renovations, which began in 1991.


In 1999, Amtrak began its Heartland Flyer service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, passing through Pauls Valley. City officials agreed to build a new waiting room for Amtrak passengers adjacent to the old depot. The new Pauls Valley station has a climate-controlled waiting area and restrooms, but is unstaffed, having no ticketing or baggage handling facilities. It also has a 10-car parking lot outside. The architecture was designed to be compatible with the old Santa Fe-style building.


The Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame, located in the Toy and Action Figure Museum, was opened in Pauls Valley in 2005.


Economy


Agricultural is the primary economic activity in the Pauls Valley area. Corn, wheat, hay, and cotton have been grown successfully in the region, and cattle production is a major activity. Petroleum industry services is the second largest activity in the region. The nearby Golden Trend oil and gas field is still one of the major producing fields in Oklahoma. In more recent years, the town has attracted some light manufacturing plants such as plastics products.


Established in 1921, the Pauls Valley Chamber of Commerce is today a 200-member business association with the mission of advancing the commercial, industrial, educational, civic, general business and cultural climate of Pauls Valley. It is a partner with businesses active on the I-35 corridor of central Oklahoma. Pauls Valley is located on Exits 70 and 72.


Major employers include Walmart Distribution Center, Walmart Supercenter, Pauls Valley Public Schools, Amor Flexibles North America, Seth Wadley Auto Group, Covercraft, Garvin County Community Living Center, and the City of Pauls Valley. Pauls Valley is also the home of the world famous Field's Pies, which are sold in grocery stores across Oklahoma and surrounding states.















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