Minco is a city in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,500 at the 2020 census, a 8.1% decrease from 2010.
History
Present-day Minco began as a settlement named Silver City on the Chisholm Trail. The community was initially a collection of tents housing Caddo, Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche tribesmen. It was approximately east of the present-day location. After the Rock Island extended its railroad track to the Chisholm Trail, the town physically moved to the end of the rail line and renamed itself Minco.
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Minco was officially settled sometime circa 1890, several years before Oklahoma achieved statehood. The post office opened in July 1890. Charles B. Campbell owned the occupancy rights of the land that the town was built on. His wife was Miss Maggie (Margaret) Williams, a daughter of W. G. (Caddo Bill) Williams, owner of the Half Moon Ranch, who started Silver City in 1872, by building a trading store for those cattlemen driving their herds of cattle up the Chisholm Trail.
In 1960, the first municipal natural gas company in Oklahoma was founded in Minco by James Burton Branum, Jr. It operated along with the Minco Tag Agency from an office in the back of what was then Branum's Variety Store on Main street.
In 2007, the Minco Historical Society established a museum to exhibit the numerous historical facts associated with the town.
Geography
Minco is located in northern Grady County. The city limits extend north to the Canadian River, which serves as the border with Canadian County. U.S. Route 81 passes through the center of town, leading north to El Reno and south to Chickasha, the Grady County seat. Oklahoma State Highway 37 leads east from the center of Minco to Tuttle and west from the northern part of Minco to Cogar. Oklahoma City is to the northeast of Minco.
In the 2010 census, Minco had a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.28%, is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Minco had a population of 1,500. The median age was 38.9 years, 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.2 males age 18 and over.
According to the 2020 census, 0% of residents lived in urban areas while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 614 households in Minco, of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.0% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Percent
|-
| White || 82.3%
|-
| Black or African American || 0.1%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 3.8%
|-
| Asian || 0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0%
|-
| Some other race || 3.3%
|-
| Two or more races || 10.4%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 8.2%
|}
2000 census
In the 2000 census, there were 1,672 people, 658 households, and 467 families living in Minco.
Electric power generation
In 2012, construction began on a series of wind farms near Minco, named Minco I, Minco II, and Minco III. In 2017, the wind farms generated 300 megawatts of electricity, some of which is used to power Google's Mayes County, Oklahoma facility.
Media
Minco has two weekly newspapers. The Minco Millennium is located on the corner of Main Street and Highway 81, and has been published every week since the summer of 1998. The Minco-Union City Times is a newspaper that serves Minco and Union City.
Minco's earlier newspapers and years of publication since origin are as follows:
- Minco Minstrel, 1890–1897, 190?-1916, 1921–1999
- Minco Monitor, 1892-1899
- Minco Weekly, 1899-1900
- Minco Herald, 1916–1921 (this time period fills in the Minstrel gap)
Microfilm copies of these papers are available at the Oklahoma Historical Society building, south of the state capital, on the second floor.
Government
Minco has a mayor and four council members. There are four wards, with one council member from each. It has its own police department and a fire department.
Notable person
- Sherri Hill, fashion designer