The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

LONE CHIMNEY.

The Pawnee County incorporated place known as Lone Chimney is primarily a dispersed rural community. Incorporated in 1993, it is positioned around the junction of U.S. 412/Cimarron Turnpike (east to west) and State Highway 18 (north to south). The center of the community lies about eight miles south of Pawnee, the county seat, and about six miles west of Maramec. The community derives its name from a stone chimney that remained at the site of a log cabin erected by a settler after the 1893 Cherokee Outlet Opening. A local landmark, the chimney was the site of camp meetings and gatherings at least as early as the 1890s.

The Lone Chimney area has been primarily agricultural over its history, and the community supported a store and a church. In 1893 local residents established a school and constructed a log building for the schoolhouse. Razed in 1940, it was replaced by a two-room stone building funded by the Works Projects Administration (WPA). The school building also served as a community center and church over time. In 1993 Lone Chimney had 32 registered voters, and they voted 28 to 3 to incorporate as a town to prevent the City of Pawnee from building a minimum-security prison nearby. Lone Chimney’s incorporation date was September 2, 1993. The corporate boundaries encompass approximately 2,590 acres of land. In the late twentieth century Lone Chimney received fire protection and other city services from the City of Pawnee. Employment as well as recreation and entertainment facilities are provided nearby at Lone Chimney Lake, owned by the Tri-County Development Authority, and at Stone Wolf Casino, erected at the U.S. 412/S. H. 18 junction in 2010 by the Pawnee Nation and enlarged circa 2020. The town of Lone Chimney is not represented in any U.S. census, but in 2023 the dispersed community claimed approximately 77 residents.

Dianna Everett