Rush Springs is a town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 997 at the 2020 census, a 19% decrease from 2010. The town promotes itself as the "Watermelon Capital of the World."
The community's largest event is the annual Rush Springs Watermelon Festival, which attracts about 30,000 people each year. They consume about 50,000 pounds of watermelon during this event.
History
The Wichita people established a village about 1850 near some springs on Rush Creek. (The present-day town of Rush Springs later developed about northwest of here.) Cattlemen watered their herds of cattle they were driving north from Texas to Kansas on the Chisholm Trail, which passed east of here.
On October 1, 1858, an event known as the Battle of the Wichita Village occurred near here, with spillover to the Wichita when the US Army destroyed their crops.
That year, Brigadier General David S. Briggs had ordered Brevet Major Earl Van Dorn to take command of the Second Cavalry at Fort Belknap, Texas. He was directed to proceed north of the Red River into Indian Territory and forcibly restrain belligerent Comanche warriors who were raiding settlements. Van Dorn and his men stopped at Camp Radziminski in Indian Territory. Van Dorn and his men advanced on the Comanche, who were camped on Rush Creek near a Wichita village.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Rush Springs had a population of 997. The median age was 39.9 years. 25.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 83.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 77.0 males age 18 and over.
There were 427 households in Rush Springs, of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.6% were married-couple households, 18.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 755 || 75.7%
|-
| Black or African American || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 57 || 5.7%
|-
| Asian || 2 || 0.2%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 2 || 0.2%
|-
| Some other race || 1 || 0.1%
|-
| Two or more races || 180 || 18.1%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 21 || 2.1%
|}
2000 census
As of the census