Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  Atwood

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

ATWOOD.

Located in Hughes County, Atwood is situated thirteen miles southeast of Holdenville, the county seat, at the intersection of State Highways 1 and 48. On January 23, 1897, a post office was established at Newburg (Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory), a settlement located approximately one mile north of the future Atwood. Henry S. Halloway served as Newburg's first postmaster. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway after 1919) built a line from Muskogee to the Red River, bypassing Newburg. Therefore, some of Newburg's residents moved one mile south to take advantage of the rail system. In December 1909 they named their new settlement Atwood for Chester Coleman Atwood, one of the townsite owners.

The community served as a trade center for the surrounding agricultural area where cotton and fruits were grown. During the first decade of the twentieth century citizens supported a weekly newspaper, the Atwood Herald. In 1910 a gristmill, powered by a gasoline engine, was erected. In 1913 Atwood had a population of approximately 150 who patronized a bank, a drug store, a livery, and five general stores. Travelers received accommodations at a hotel and dined at a restaurant. In the 1930s the town continued to support a cotton gin and a mill. In 1993 Atwood was one of forty-eight Oklahoma communities to receive a federally funded grant for improvement projects. The town received $75,000 to modernize their fire protection. Atwood was incorporated on August 9, 1994. The population stood at 113 in 2000 but declined to 74 in 2010. In April 2020 the census reported 84.

Fran Cook and Spencer P. Petete

Browse By Topic

Urban Development

Explore

Place
Town

Learn More

Atwood (Oklahoma) Herald, September 1909–July 1910.

"Atwood," Vertical File, Research Division, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City.

R. L. Polk & Co.'s Oklahoma State Gazetteer and Business Directory (Memphis: R. L. Polk and Co., 1909, 1913).

Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Fran Cook and Spencer P. Petete, “Atwood,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=AT006.

Published January 15, 2010
Last updated February 23, 2024

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.