Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Pottawatomie County
U.S. county
Pottawatomie County Courthouse in Shawnee
Location within the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
Founded	1891
Named for	Potawatomi people
Seat	Shawnee
Largest city	Shawnee
Area
• Total	793 sq mi (2,050 km²)
• Land	788 sq mi (2,040 km²)
• Water	5.7 sq mi (15 km²) 0.7%%
Population (2020)
• Total	72,454
• Density	91.37/sq mi (35.277/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	5th

Pottawatomie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,454. Its county seat is Shawnee.

Pottawatomie County is part of the Shawnee, OK Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Oklahoma City–Shawnee, OK Combined Statistical Area.

History
Geography
- Adjacent counties
Demographics
Transportation
- Major highways
- Airport
Communities
NRHP Sites
See also

History

Pottawatomie County was carved out of land originally given to the Creek and Seminole after their forced removal from Georgia and Florida. After the Civil War, the Creek and Seminole were forced to cede their lands back to the federal government, and the area of Pottawatomie County was used to resettle the Iowa, Sac and Fox, Absentee Shawnee, Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes.

Non-Indian settlement began on September 22, 1891 when all the tribes except the Kickapoo agreed to land allotment, where communal reservation land was divided and allotted to individual members of the tribes. The remaining land was opened to settlement.

During the land run, Pottawatomie County was organized as County "B" with Tecumseh as the county seat. In 1892, the voters of the county elected to rename County "B" as Pottawatomie County after the Potawatomi Indians.

In 1895, the Kickapoo gave up their land rights and their land was given away to white settlers in the last land run in Oklahoma.

In 1930, Shawnee, now bigger in size than Tecumseh, was approved by the voters to become the new county seat.

On May 19, 2013, during an outbreak of tornadoes, a mobile home park was nearly destroyed killing a 79-year-old man and injuring at least 6 others as well as damaging at least 35 structures. Frame and brick homes west of Shawnee were also affected.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 793 square miles (2,050 km²), of which 788 square miles (2,040 km²) is land and 5.7 square miles (15 km²) (0.7%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Lincoln County (north)
Okfuskee County (northeast)
Seminole County (east)
Pontotoc County (southeast)
McClain County (southwest)
Cleveland County (west)
Oklahoma County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	26,412	—
1910	43,595	65.1%
1920	46,028	5.6%
1930	66,572	44.6%
1940	54,377	−18.3%
1950	43,517	−20.0%
1960	41,486	−4.7%
1970	43,134	4.0%
1980	55,239	28.1%
1990	58,760	6.4%
2000	65,521	11.5%
2010	69,442	6.0%
2020	72,454	4.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2019 2020 census

Age pyramid for Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, based on census 2000 data.

As of the census of 2010, there were 69,442 people, 25,911 households, and 18,227 families residing in the county. The population density was 34/km² (88/mi²). There were 29,139 housing units at an average density of 14/km² (37/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 76.3% white, 2.9% black or African American, 12.9% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from other races, and 6.3% from two or more races. About 4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, while 9% were of American, 17% German, 14% Irish and 10% English ancestry. About 90.6% spoke English and 4.2% Spanish as their first language.

There were 25,911 households, out of which 34.5% included children under the age of 18, 51.9% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.7% were non-families. About a quarter of households consisted of a single individual and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,332, and the median income for a family was $50,399. Males had a median income of $39,580 versus $27,495 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,700. About 14% of families and 18% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 40
U.S. Highway 177
U.S. Highway 270
U.S. Highway 377
State Highway 3
State Highway 3E
State Highway 3W
State Highway 9
State Highway 9A
State Highway 18
State Highway 39
State Highway 59
State Highway 59B
State Highway 99
State Highway 99A
State Highway 102
State Highway 270

Airport

The Shawnee Regional Airport is located 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) northwest from the central business district of Shawnee. It is classified as a general aviation airport.