Winchester is a town in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 546 at the 2020 census, an increase of 5.8% from the figure of 516 recorded in 2010. It is a recently built residential community, having incorporated February 18, 1974.
This is not to be confused with the old settlement of Winchester in Woods County, Oklahoma near the Kansas border, west of the present-day U.S. Route 281 and west-southwest of Hardtner, Kansas.
History
Winchester began as a residential community on 2,500 acres of land acquired by William D. Crews in 1959. It was intended to attract people who were "tired and frustrated" with life in Tulsa. The town's fenceline runs approximately from U.S. Route 75, a major national north/south artery, on the west side to approximately east of the highway, and from 241st St. in the north to Oklahoma State Highway 16 in the south. Winchester residents have a Beggs mailing address, but the town of Beggs is actually southwest of Winchester and on the opposite side of U.S. 75.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.7 km<sup>2</sup>), all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Winchester had a population of 546. The median age was 40.8 years. 23.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 110.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 105.4 males age 18 and over.
There were 182 households in Winchester, of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 58.8% were married-couple households, 15.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 20.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 393 || 72.0%
|-
| Black or African American || 2 || 0.4%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 64 || 11.7%
|-
| Asian || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 17 || 3.1%
|-
| Two or more races || 70 || 12.8%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 27 || 4.9%
|}
2000 census
As of the census However, that application was turned down twice, once in 1984 based on insufficient financing and unrealistic attendance and wagering projections, and finally in 1985 as incomplete.
Winchester again made the news in March 1989 when the Institute for the Study of American Wars (ISAW), a Delaware-based nonprofit organization, chose Winchester over competing sites in Oklahoma, Arizona, Pennsylvania and New Mexico for a proposed $150 million war museum complex. However, the selection was withdrawn in April after a disagreement regarding donation of the land. ISAW claimed the State of Oklahoma could not or would not follow through on an earlier pledge of immediate donation in fee of 300 acres of land, and was instead offering only a 200-year lease of the land and/or was demanding proof that ISAW had the funding to build the museum prior to transfer of the land. ISAW later admitted to having raised only $65,000. ISAW then selected the Phoenix area In the end, the museum was never built in any location, and ISAW's entity status was voided effective March 1, 1998, by the Delaware Secretary of State.
Ordinances and land covenants
The town's website indicates Winchester is a "restricted residential community"; i.e., the town is subject to land covenants and zoning ordinances which restrict, among other things, mobile homes in many locations.