Okay is a town along the east bank of the Verdigris River in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, Okay had a population of 505.
Etymology and history
Okay's history as a community began circa 1806, when a French trader named Joseph Bogy established a trading post in the Three Forks area of what would eventually become the state of Oklahoma. The firm of Brand and Barbour took over the post later. When Barbour died in 1822, A. P. Chouteau, who had already established a trading post at Salina bought the Three Forks post. At the time, the post included twelve houses and a ferry. Chouteau expanded his business by bringing in Creole carpenters to construct keelboats that local traders needed to transport the goods they obtained from the local Indians to New Orleans and St. Louis. For a while, the Osage tribe claimed ownership of the land, which they ceded to the Western Cherokees before the Trail of Tears. Then the Western Creeks were allowed to settle on part of the land. In 1828, the Federal Government bought Chouteau's land for construction of a Creek Agency.
The settlement had various names before 1919. The Cook Gang robbed the train at Coretta on 1894. The name Falls City was also current, from nearby rapids on the Verdigris River. which later renamed itself the "O. K. Truck Manufacturing Company". Okay has been noted for its unusual place name.
A fire destroyed most of the business district in 1936, including two general stores, a church, the post office, and two vacant buildings. Only two businesses, a filling station and a blacksmith shop, survived the disaster.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Okay had a population of 505. The median age was 42.3 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 81.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.7 males age 18 and over.
There were 211 households in Okay, of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.8% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 308 || 61.0%
|-
| Black or African American || 4 || 0.8%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 110 || 21.8%
|-
| Asian || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 2 || 0.4%
|-
| Two or more races || 81 || 16.0%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 13 || 2.6%
|}
2000 census
As of the census
Superintendent Charles McMahan was quoted as saying that, "No specific incident caused us to pass this policy. ...With everything that is going on in the world, we've heard that you may possibly see more attacks from radical groups looking for children." McMahan pointed out that Okay has only one police officer. Other law enforcement officers can respond from Wagoner, Oklahoma in about 10 minutes. He added that about five percent of the Okay teachers are armed. and is a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Katie Rain Hill, transgender writer and activisit