Оклахома штатының Блейн округі

County in Oklahoma, United States

Blaine County is a county located in the U. S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. Its county seat is Watonga. Part of the Cheyenne Arapaho land opening in 1892, the county had gained rail lines by the early 1900s and highways by the 1930s. According to one account, the designation "C" remained until the first public elections in 1892. When the time came to choose another name for the county, there seemed to be roughly equal support for two military heroes: "Sheridan" and "Custer". Before voting began, the chairman gave a stirring speech proposing Blaine, who had recently died, and who was a local favorite. The majority of voters swung behind Blaine's name, which was ultimately chosen for County C. The area was settled by Creek and Seminole, whom the federal government relocated to the area in the 1820s and 1830s. A post office was established in the county seat of Watonga, the same year as the land run. The Enid and Anadarko Railway and the Blackwell, Enid and Southwestern Railroad both ran lines through the county from 1901 to 1903. The town was home to "the oldest bank in Blaine County." In 1904, Blaine County was the birthplace of voice actor Clarence Nash, the original voice of Disney's Donald Duck. The county's population was 17,227 in 1907, and rose to 17,960 in 1910. U. S. Highways 270 and 281 were constructed through Blaine County. Although population decreases are typical of most rural Oklahoma countries, much of the population decline of Blaine County from 2010 to 2020 was due to the closing in 2010 of a prison which was the largest employer in the county.

The county is served by seven elected county officials: a county sheriff, three county commissioners, a county clerk, a county assessor, and a county treasurer. The northeastern half of the county is located on the western edge of the Red Bed Plains while the southwestern half lies in the Gypsum Hills. The county seat of Watonga hosts an annual cheese festival in October, celebrating the city's cheese factory.

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,976 people, 4,159 households, and 2,865 families residing in the county, nearly half of them located in the county seat of Watonga. The population density of the county was There were 5,208 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the county was 76.29% white, 8.70% Native American, 6.65% Black or African American, 0.71% Asian, 0.81% Pacific Islander, 2.86% from other races, and 3.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino individuals of any race made up 6.62% of the population. There were 4,159 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Slightly more than half (56.20%) were married couples living together, nearly a third (29%) were made up of individuals, 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years or age or older, and 8.6% were run by a female with no husband present. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.08. The median age of the county in 2000 was 38 years, with almost a third (28.6%) of the population aged 25 to 44. Individuals under the age of 18 made up 24% of the population, individuals age 45 to 64 made up 21.4% of the population, individuals age 65 or older made up 16.8% of the population, and individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 made up 9.1% of the population. There were slightly more males than females, with 119.3 males for every 100 females and 125 adult males (18 or older) for every 100 female adults. The median income for a household in the county in 2000 was $28,356, and the median income for a family was $34,565. Males had a median income of $26,284 versus $18,619 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,546. About 12.8 percent of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.

Southard, located in central Blaine County, is the site of one of the purest gypsum deposits in the United States and is home to the U. S. Gypsum Company, the largest industrial plant in the county. Lying in the Cimarron Valley, Okeene's economy has been based in agriculture, primarily wheat and hay. Major manufacturing businesses are the Okeene Milling Company, Seaboard Farms, and Mountain Country Foods, a manufacturer of pet food. The Okeene Municipal Hospital and Clinic is one of the primary medical centers of northwest Oklahoma.