Alva (Oklahoma)
Woods County
40-01800
Alva is a city in Woods County ( Oklahoma) at the Salt Fork Arkansas River. Alva has 5,288 inhabitants ( 2000) and is the capital of the Woods County.
History and Description
Alva was established in 1893 as a base for the Oklahoma Land Run, the largest race for colonization of central and western Oklahoma. The location was chosen because of its location on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and probably named after the railway representative Alva Adams, who had just become governor of Colorado.
In Alva is the Northwestern Oklahoma State University ( NWOSU ), which was founded in 1897 as a simple school. Their main building has long been known as the " Castle on the Hill " is known, a large, imaginative, brick brick building, which was modeled on a Norman castle and the town towered over it. It burned down in 1935 and was replaced by the biederere Jesse Dunn Hall, which was opened in 1937 by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Today, the city government expressly requests to wall paintings ( one of the newest forms the above-mentioned "lock" on ) and tries to attract business and tourists to keep people in the city. This is all the more important as the population of Woods County since the 1930s is declining. From 1990 to 2000 Alva lost 200 inhabitants. It has a Wal- Mart supermarket, the smallest ever built. The region is considered to be religious, but in Alva 16 different churches. The city is one of the few of this size in Oklahoma, who still own newspaper appears, the Alva Review- Courier.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 km ². There are no water bodies in the city.
Population
According to the U.S. census of 2000, Alva had 5,288 inhabitants, 2,205 households, and 1,261 families. The population density was 861.5 / km ². There were 2,644 buildings with a density of 430.7 / km ². After races, the population consisted of 94.99 % White, 1.30% African American, 1.34 % Native American ( Native American), 0.78 % Asian, 0.04 % Pacific Insulander (Pacific Islander ), 0.23 % other races and 1.32 % descendants of two or more races. 1.82% were Hispanics or Latinos regardless of their race.
There were 2,205 households, 23.9 % of which were living in children under 18 years, 46.1% were married couples living together, 8.4 % were headed by single women and 42.8 % were non-families. 34.7 % of households consisted of single persons and 16.0 % of single people 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size is 2.81 people.
The composition by age comprised 18.9% under 18, 21.7 % from 18 to 24, 20.5% 25-44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.0 % were 65 years or older. The average age was 35 years. For every 100 females 93.8 men came and 100 women 18 years or older were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the 27 432 U.S. dollars and a family is $ 38,041. Males have a median income of $ 27,531 compared with $ 17,981 for women. The per capita income in the city was $ 17,966. 9.1% of families and 17.1 % of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8 % of those under 18 and 7.0 % of those age 65 or over.
Education
In addition to the Northwestern Oklahoma State University is also the Northwest Technology Center is located in Alva. The high school, middle school and three elementary schools are operated by independent school district of Alva.
Well-known residents
Alva is the birthplace of
- Jack Ging, actor
- Lex peace, Disabled Activist