Westville () is a town in Adair County, Oklahoma, located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Westville lies at the junction of U.S. Highways 59 and 62, and approximately 13 miles north of Stilwell, the county seat. As of the 2020 census, Westville had a population of 1,364.

History

Before statehood, Westville was a community in the Goingsnake District of the Cherokee Nation. The town was founded in 1895, when the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (later acquired by the Kansas City Southern Railroad) was constructing a rail line from Kansas City to the Gulf Coast. The Westville post office was established on November 18, 1895. The town name honored Jim West, who lived one mile south of nearby Cincinnati, Arkansas, and whose son, Jim West Jr., was an attorney for the Kansas City Southern Railway.

The original plat for the included 175 acres. Expansion came soon with the development of the William D. Williams addition and the Pat Dore Addition.

In 1902 a second rail line, the Ozark and Cherokee Central Railway, which ran from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, began operations through Westville, giving the town an enviable position at the rail junction. That line, later owned by St. Louis – San Francisco Railway, discontinued service to Westville in the late 1940s. The county seat was moved to Stilwell in 1910.

Geography

Westville is north of Stilwell and south of Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Westville had a population of 1,364. The median age was 35.3 years. 30.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 84.7 males age 18 and over.

There were 537 households in Westville, of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.6% were married-couple households, 20.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 678 || 49.7%

|-

| Black or African American || 1 || 0.1%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 438 || 32.1%

|-

| Asian || 8 || 0.6%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 2 || 0.1%

|-

| Some other race || 29 || 2.1%

|-

| Two or more races || 208 || 15.2%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 56 || 4.1%

|}

2000 census

As of the census

Notable people

  • Thomas Buffington, Cherokee chief from 1899 to 1903
  • Markwayne Mullin, United States Senator from Oklahoma and former United States Representative
  • Jim Ross, World Wrestling Entertainment commentator
  • Tom Woods, politician

References

  • Official website