Fort Cobb is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 518 at the 2020 census.
History
Fort Cobb was established as a U.S. Army frontier post in Indian Territory on October 1, 1859, east of the present location of the town. The fort was named after Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb, a friend of the founding officer, Major William Emory. The post was later occupied by both Southern and Northern forces during the Civil War, the Union taking control of the fort as part of the 1862 Tonkawa massacre.
Later, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's command was encamped at Fort Cobb from December 18, 1868, to January 6, 1869. Shortly after that, on March 12, 1869, the fort was abandoned in favor of a location to the south near the Wichita Mountains, and renamed Fort Sill.
The town of Fort Cobb was founded in 1899, and simply named Cobb, which was renamed Fort Cobb in 1902 to honor the defunct military post. At statehood in 1907, the town had 467 residents. The number had fallen to 382 at the 1910 census, but grew to 546 in 1920. The largest number of residents was 827 in 1930, but the population soon began a decline because of the Great Depression and World War II. In 1940 it was 699, falling to 665 in 1950. It rebounded to 687 in 1960, 722 in 1970 and 760 in 1980. There was another drop to 663 in 1990, followed by a rise to 663 in 1990 and 667 in 2000, before declining again to 634 in 2010 and 518 in 2020.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Fort Cobb had a population of 518. The median age was 39.8 years. 24.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.0 males age 18 and over.
There were 223 households in Fort Cobb, of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.9% were married-couple households, 21.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 374 || 72.2%
|-
| Black or African American || 12 || 2.3%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 78 || 15.1%
|-
| Asian || 2 || 0.4%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.2%
|-
| Some other race || 4 || 0.8%
|-
| Two or more races || 47 || 9.1%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 33 || 6.4%
|}
2000 census
As of the census