Leedey, Oklahoma

Dewey County

40-42050

Leedey is a small town ( Town) in Dewey County ( Oklahoma).

Geography

Leedey is located on the border of Roger Mills County, about 3.5 miles north of the junction of Oklahoma State Routes 34 and 47 The Canadian River flows about ten kilometers east of Leedy first from north to south, then at the height of a Leedy to make almost right angle bend to the east and eastwards to flow in the direction of more than 100 kilometers away in Oklahoma City and Norman.

The community area is 1 km ², it is an average height of 631 m. The surroundings of the village is hilly and crisscrossed by numerous north-south running valleys.

Demographics and Data

Leedey had 2000 345 inhabitants in the census. Slightly more than 97 % of the residents were white and 1.5% African- American. 24.7% of the population were 24 years old or younger; 25.8 % were older than 64 years; the average age was 47 years.

The per capita income averaged 21,667 U.S. dollars, 19.4 % of the population lived below the poverty line.

History

After the opening of the Cheyenne - Arapaho reserve for non- Indian settlers in 1892, the settlement was founded and named after the early settlers resident Amos Leedey. Leedy was after the opening of the first post office in 1900, the first postal workers. The growth of the settlement began essentially after the opening of the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway ( later Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad ) that connected 1911 Elk City and Leedey. In the same year the official founding of the church fell. The story of Leedey has since been determined by agriculture and the extraction of oil and natural gas, which began in the area since 1923.

Like other communities in Oklahoma Leedy is always affected by tornadoes. Even today commemorate the citizens of Leedy the victims of the tornado of 31 May 1947 which claimed six lives and injured 15 and destroyed another 20 to 147 shops and houses.

Sons and daughters

• Darla Hood, actress