Оклахома штатының Сентинел қаласының тарихы

Sentinel is a town in Washita County, in the U. S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 901 in the 2010 census, an increase of 4.9 percent from the figure of 859 residents in 2000. Towns near Sentinel are Rocky, Cordell, Canute, and Burnsflat.

Located in southwestern Washita County, Sentinel lies at the intersection of State Highways 44 and 55. The town is primarily an agriculture based community. The 1892 Cheyenne and Arapaho Opening brought non Indians into the region. In 1898, R. B. Gore, a pioneer of Old Greer County, established a small general merchandise store in the area and applied for a post office. On March 6, 1899, the Post Office Department approved the application and designated the locale as Sentinel, Oklahoma Territory. The name originated from Cloud Chief's Herald Sentinel newspaper. This store was approximately one mile east of the present town. In 1901, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, later bought by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, began purchasing rights of way and designating new townsites for a proposed railroad. The newly formed Orient Townsite Company chose the site of present Sentinel and received a donation of eighty acres from L. N. Whitmer. They named the new town "Barton" and filed a plat on September 23, 1901. The new residents asked Gore to relocate his store and post office to the new location. This caused confusion, as the town and post office had different names. In 1904, Will Hornbeck established the Sentinel News Boy. Determined to correct the name problem, he started a petition to incorporate the town as Sentinel. In 1906, the voters approved this measure in an election. In August 1907, the town officially became Sentinel. At the 1907 statehood, it had 351 residents. As of the census of 2000, there were 859 people, 346 households, and 256 families residing in the town. The population density was There were 411 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the town was 88.01% White, 0.12% African American, 3.03% Native American, 5.47% from other races, and 3.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.29% of the population. There were 346 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.93. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $29,265, and the median income for a family was $34,531. Males had a median income of $23,846 versus $19,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,122. About 15.4% of families and 17.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.6% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

The Sentinel School District has a large geographic area consisting of over 200 square miles (518 km2). The present school plant was constructed in the 1960s. Sentinel is a class 'A' school. Students from the communities of Sentinel, Port, Rocky, and Carter attend Sentinel Public Schools. Sentinel public School is a member of the Western Technology Center District, which provides occupation specific training for adults and high school students.