Cross, Oklahoma

Cross, Oklahoma
Ghost town
Cross Cross
Coordinates: 36°42′30.1″N 97°05′21.1″W
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Kay
Established	before September 16, 1893
Elevation	1,122 ft (342 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	580
Newspaper(s)	Cross Resident; Oklahoma State Guide

Cross is a ghost town in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. It is currently a residential area in a part of Ponca City.

History

Before the Cherokee Outlet land run of 1893, the now former town of Cross was platted out as a way for new settlers to know that their stakes shouldn't be claimed at the townsite. Cross was planned to be the main city for the Cherokee Outlet. Other townsfolk also planned for the town to be the half-way rest station between travelers coming from Kansas City, Missouri to Galveston, Texas, and the freight terminal between Newton, Kansas and Purcell.

A railway station, an express station, freight station, and telephone office, were placed at the townsite at the time of it being created, and the post office followed soon thereafter.

Within months of the town being created, it had already boomed to a staggering 2000 people. Retail stores supplied goods for the townsfolk and travelers stopping by the town. The first ever factory built in the Cherokee Outlet was in Cross, and it created house furniture, and other simple items. Other factories, including a distillery, were built in the town afterwards. The town also included, what were considered at the time to be, “some of the largest hotels in Northern Oklahoma”. The town also had a considerably financially sound bank. Thee were also four churches, a school which in it had employed three teachers, and freshly created housing areas.

To add onto the booming cities ever so quickly growing population, the town had the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway passing through it, attracting tons of people to the town.

Rivalry and Downfall of Cross

About a mile south of the, what seemed to be booming, town of Cross, was an up-and-coming town that had fresh water located at the site, and the aforementioned railroad placed adjacently to it. This town is now known as Ponca City.

Both of the towns had an extremely huge conflict, as some citizens of Cross stated that it was “like taking the life out of a Cross citizen to visit Ponca City”. Whenever people from Cross and Ponca City crossed paths, the outcome would usually result in at least one of the people winding up dead. Even when foreign baseball players went to go against the Cross baseball team, groups of people from Ponca City would cheer on the opposite team, just to spite the townsfolk of Cross.

For around a year, the Southern Kansas Railroad had refused to add a stop into Ponca City, but eventually they did. Whenever people would stop in Ponca City on the railroad, the townsfolk of Ponca City would gather around to give the male stoppers cigars, and the female stoppers bouquets of flowers. This was also to spite Cross townspeople, and gather traction to the town.

This rivalry ended abruptly, however, when the railroad agent in Cross and the mayor of Ponca City agreed to have the agents house moved to Ponca City, plus two good railroad lots for the agent to cover.

After this agreement, a man from Ponca City bought Cross’ biggest hotel, and relocated it to Ponca City. Slowly, several houses moved from Cross to Ponca City, with Cross's population leaving little by little, with Ponca City seemingly being the victor of this infamous rivalry.