Ryan, Oklahoma

Ryan, Oklahoma
Town
Location of Ryan, Oklahoma
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Jefferson
Government
• Type	Town Council
Area
• Total	0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2)
• Land	0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	902 ft (275 m)
Population  (2007)
• Total	831
• Density	987.5/sq mi (381.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	73565
Area code	580
FIPS code	40-64600Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1097552Template:GR

Ryan is a town in Jefferson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 831 at the 2007 census.

Geography

Ryan is located at 34°1′18″N 97°57′15″W (34.021679, -97.954300)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

History

The incorporated community of Ryan, Oklahoma, is located in southwestern Jefferson County. It is situated some two miles north of the Red River at the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 32, eleven miles south of Waurika and 115 miles south by southwest from Oklahoma City. It was named in honor of rancher Stephen W. Ryan, an Arkansas native who settled near present Ryan in 1875.

As a result of his marriage to a Chickasaw woman, Ryan acquired vast acreage in present Jefferson County, Oklahoma, then a part of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. When the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway constructed a station on Ryan's land in 1892, he platted the townsite that bears his name. A post office had been established in that locality in June 1890, and his home, built circa 1877, was the community's first residence.

Delegates to the 1906 Constitutional Convention selected Ryan as the seat of Jefferson County. The town lost that distinction in February 1912 when county voters chose Waurika to be their county seat. Ryan developed as an agricultural and ranching community. Local ranchers raised cattle and hogs, and farmers produced cotton, corn, and wheat. The fruit industry was a prosperous enterprise, as pears, peaches, apples, plums, and strawberries were grown in abundance.

A fire nearly destroyed Ryan in December 1895. Residents rebuilt, and by 1908 the community had thirty businesses, including two banks, a hotel, a cotton gin, two lumberyards, a flour mill, and a cottonseed oil mill. By 1930 the townspeople enjoyed one mile of paved roads, two schools, three hundred telephone connections, and a bus line.

Ryan had 1,115 citizens in 1907. The town's population peaked at 1,379 in 1920 and then declined. The 1940 and 1950 censuses reported 1,115 and 1,019, respectively. Numbers dropped to 978 in 1960. By 1980 the town had 1,083 residents, declining to 894 in 2000.

A notable Ryan native is actor and martial arts master Chuck Norris, who was born there on March 10, 1940.

As Ryan entered the twenty-first century, four Protestant churches and one Catholic church, and two primary and secondary schools were available to the public. The Ryan public schools and the Ryan Nursing Home were the town's major employers. The weekly Ryan Leader, the community's lone newspaper in 2003, originated as the Ryan Record in 1894.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 894 people, 358 households, and 233 families residing in the town. The population density was 987.5 people per square mile (379.3/km²). There were 439 housing units at an average density of 484.9/sq mi (186.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 87.47% White, 0.67% African American, 3.24% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 6.82% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. 12.30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 358 households out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,855, and the median income for a family was $26,167. Males had a median income of $22,813 versus $15,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,057. About 26.7% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.3% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.