Pond Creek is a city in Grant County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. As of the 2020 census, Pond Creek had a population of 885.
History
Before people of European descent came on the scene, the region around the present town of Pond Creek was traversed by many of the nomadic Native Americans of the Great Plains. Although the land is now heavily agricultural there are still traces of campsites along the numerous creeks of the drainage of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River. When many of the Native American groups were moved onto reservations in what is now Oklahoma, towns and trading posts were established. Eventually the present-day Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. The history of Pond Creek and the surrounding area can be easily confused with other streams called Pond Creek (see e.g.). The present community of Pond Creek is located in what is called the Cherokee Strip, more properly known as the Cherokee Outlet. The land at the confluence of Osage Creek and Pond Creek was known as the Pond Creek Stockade on the original Chisholm Trail used by cattle drivers bringing herds of Texas longhorns north to the railroad head first at Abilene, Kansas then later to Wichita and Caldwell.
This location is about 4 miles north of the present town of Pond Creek near the present village of Jefferson. Two markers have been placed in this area commemorating the untimely demise of two cowboys. There are two granite markers placed near Pond Creek on the old Chisholm Trail.
In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north–south from Caldwell, Kansas to Pond Creek in 1888. By 1893, it was incrementally built to Fort Worth, Texas. It was foreclosed on in 1891 and taken over by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, which shut-down in 1980. The Kansas-Texas mainline was sold to a subsidiary of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad as the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, merging in 1988 with Missouri Pacific Railroad, which merged in 1997 with Union Pacific Railroad. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island."
Pond Creek was settled as a town during the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1893. According to the Chronicles of Oklahoma, "The government townsite of Pond Creek was first entered at 2:10 on the day of the run. By evening, it contained some 8,000 inhabitants, and boasted a good hotel, several restaurants, a dozen law offices, two general stores and six or seven grocery stores." The settlers soon found that there was not enough water to support the new town; the government had dug wells for all of the government townsites, including Pond Creek, but all the water in Pond Creek's well was quickly used up. but it makes a colorful tale.
Geography
Pond Creek is located on the west side of the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The city lies at the intersection of U.S. routes 60 and 81.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Pond Creek had a population of 885. The median age was 37.4 years, 30.2% of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.6 males age 18 and over.
There were 338 households in Pond Creek, of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.0% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Percent
|-
| White || 86.0%
|-
| Black or African American || 1.8%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 1.6%
|-
| Asian || 0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0.3%
|-
| Some other race || 1.6%
|-
| Two or more races || 8.7%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 4.6%
|}
2000 census
As of the census