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Boise City, Oklahoma

Coordinates: 36°43′48″N 102°30′41″W / 36.73000°N 102.51139°W / 36.73000; -102.51139
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"Boise City" redirects here. For the capital of Idaho, see Boise, Idaho. For other uses, see Boise (disambiguation).
Boise City, Oklahoma
City
Cimarron County Courthouse (2024)
Cimarron County Courthouse (2024)
Location within Cimarron County and Oklahoma
Location within Cimarron County and Oklahoma
Coordinates: 36°43′48″N 102°30′41″W / 36.73000°N 102.51139°W / 36.73000; -102.51139
CountryUnited States
StateOklahoma
CountyCimarron
Founded1908
Incorporated1925
Area
[1]
 • Total
1.48 sq mi (3.82 km2)
 • Land1.48 sq mi (3.82 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
[2]
4,167 ft (1,270 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
1,166
 • Density789.97/sq mi (305.02/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
73933
Area code580
FIPS code40-07300[3]
GNIS ID1090365[2]

Boise City (/ˈbɔɪs/ BOYSS) is a city in and the county seat of Cimarron County, in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, United States.[4] The population was 1,166 at the 2020 census, a decline of 7.9 percent from 1,266 in 2010.[5][6]

History

[edit]
Area affected by the Dust Bowl between 1935 and 1938

Boise City was founded in 1908 by developers J. E. Stanley, A. J. Kline, and W. T. Douglas (all doing business as the Southwestern Immigration and Development Company of Guthrie, Oklahoma) who published and distributed brochures promoting the town as an elegant, tree-lined city with paved streets, numerous businesses, railroad service, and an artesian well.[a] They sold 3,000 lots to buyers who discovered, on their arrival, that none of the information in the brochure was true. In addition to using false publicity, the three men did not have title to the lots they sold.

Stanley and Kline were convicted of mail fraud and sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Stanley and Kline served two-year terms in the penitentiary. Douglas died of tuberculosis before beginning his sentence. The town nevertheless took shape and incorporated on July 20, 1925.[4]

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture says that the origin of the town name is unclear, but offers three possibilities: (1) a Captain Boice who was a hero in the Civil War, (2) the town of Boise, Idaho or (3) the Boise Cattle Company, which ran cattle in the area.[4] It was speculated in Ken Burns' documentary, The Dust Bowl, that the town name was chosen as part of the original land scam to evoke a false image of the town, as "boisé" is French for "wooded".

Boise City's prosperity in the 1930s, like that of Cimarron County generally, was severely affected by its location at the heart of the Dust Bowl region.[15][16]

Boise City was the location of an unusual event during World War II when it was mistakenly bombed by a friendly U.S. bomber crew during training. The bombing occurred on July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m. by a B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber.[17] This occurred because pilots performing target practice became disoriented and mistook the four lights centered around the town's main square as their target. No one was killed in the attack and there was minimal damage, as only practice bombs with four pounds of dynamite and ninety pounds of sand were used and the square was deserted, but the pilots were embarrassed. For the 50th anniversary of the incident, the crew of the bomber was invited back to Boise City, but all members declined, some for health reasons and others because they did not want to draw more attention to their mishap. The B-17's former radio operator did, however, send an audio tape that was played at the celebration.[18][19]

Geography

[edit]

Boise City is located at 36°43′48″N 102°30′41″W / 36.73000°N 102.51139°W / 36.73000; -102.51139 (36.730115, -102.511419).[20] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all land.

Climate

[edit]
Boise City, Oklahoma
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
0.5
 
 
52
20
 
 
0.4
 
 
56
23
 
 
1.1
 
 
64
30
 
 
1.4
 
 
72
38
 
 
1.8
 
 
80
47
 
 
2.3
 
 
90
58
 
 
3.1
 
 
94
63
 
 
3.2
 
 
91
62
 
 
1.8
 
 
85
54
 
 
1.5
 
 
74
40
 
 
0.6
 
 
61
29
 
 
0.7
 
 
51
22
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches
Metric conversion
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
13
 
 
11
−7
 
 
10
 
 
13
−5
 
 
28
 
 
18
−1
 
 
36
 
 
22
3
 
 
46
 
 
27
8
 
 
58
 
 
32
14
 
 
79
 
 
34
17
 
 
81
 
 
33
17
 
 
46
 
 
29
12
 
 
38
 
 
23
4
 
 
15
 
 
16
−2
 
 
18
 
 
11
−6
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm

Boise City experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with mild, dry winters and long, hot, wetter summers. There is a large degree of diurnal temperature variation year-round.

According to weather data tallied between July 1, 1985, and June 30, 2015, for every location in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's official climate database, Boise City, Oklahoma, is the snowiest place in the state of Oklahoma with an average of 31.8 inches of snow per year. [21]

Climate data for Boise City, Oklahoma, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1908–2020
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 82
(28) 		86
(30) 		91
(33) 		97
(36) 		102
(39) 		109
(43) 		108
(42) 		107
(42) 		105
(41) 		97
(36) 		88
(31) 		84
(29) 		109
(43)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 71.0
(21.7) 		73.3
(22.9) 		80.8
(27.1) 		86.8
(30.4) 		93.6
(34.2) 		100.2
(37.9) 		101.5
(38.6) 		99.1
(37.3) 		95.2
(35.1) 		87.7
(30.9) 		78.5
(25.8) 		71.0
(21.7) 		102.5
(39.2)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 51.8
(11.0) 		55.7
(13.2) 		64.2
(17.9) 		71.5
(21.9) 		80.4
(26.9) 		90.1
(32.3) 		93.8
(34.3) 		90.8
(32.7) 		84.6
(29.2) 		73.5
(23.1) 		61.4
(16.3) 		51.3
(10.7) 		72.4
(22.4)
Daily mean °F (°C) 36.1
(2.3) 		39.1
(3.9) 		46.8
(8.2) 		54.5
(12.5) 		63.8
(17.7) 		74.0
(23.3) 		78.3
(25.7) 		76.1
(24.5) 		69.2
(20.7) 		57.0
(13.9) 		45.3
(7.4) 		36.5
(2.5) 		56.4
(13.6)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 20.4
(−6.4) 		22.6
(−5.2) 		29.5
(−1.4) 		37.6
(3.1) 		47.3
(8.5) 		57.9
(14.4) 		62.8
(17.1) 		61.5
(16.4) 		53.8
(12.1) 		40.4
(4.7) 		29.3
(−1.5) 		21.7
(−5.7) 		40.4
(4.7)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 2.7
(−16.3) 		4.4
(−15.3) 		12.1
(−11.1) 		22.9
(−5.1) 		33.9
(1.1) 		46.5
(8.1) 		54.8
(12.7) 		53.6
(12.0) 		38.0
(3.3) 		25.0
(−3.9) 		12.5
(−10.8) 		2.1
(−16.6) 		−5.2
(−20.7)
Record low °F (°C) −24
(−31) 		−18
(−28) 		−12
(−24) 		6
(−14) 		19
(−7) 		31
(−1) 		39
(4) 		36
(2) 		25
(−4) 		7
(−14) 		−7
(−22) 		−17
(−27) 		−24
(−31)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 0.50
(13) 		0.36
(9.1) 		1.10
(28) 		1.40
(36) 		1.82
(46) 		2.28
(58) 		3.12
(79) 		3.23
(82) 		1.75
(44) 		1.48
(38) 		0.56
(14) 		0.74
(19) 		18.34
(466)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 7.3
(19) 		2.5
(6.4) 		7.2
(18) 		2.3
(5.8) 		0.2
(0.51) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		1.3
(3.3) 		3.1
(7.9) 		7.9
(20) 		31.8
(81)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 2.7 2.6 3.6 4.4 5.9 5.8 7.2 6.6 4.0 3.4 2.6 3.2 52.0
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 2.9 1.6 2.2 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.2 2.8 11.9
Source 1: NOAA[22]
Source 2: XMACIS2 (mean maxima/minima 1981–2010)[23]

Demographics

[edit]
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
19301,256—
19401,144−8.9%
19501,90266.3%
19601,9784.0%
19701,9930.8%
19801,761−11.6%
19901,509−14.3%
20001,483−1.7%
20101,266−14.6%
20201,166−7.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census[3] of 2020, there were 1,166 people and 440 households. The population density was 1,180.6 inhabitants per square mile (455.8/km2). There were 675 housing units (230.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 87.5% White (61.6% non-Hispanic), 0.1% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.4% of the population.

As of 2020, there were 440 households, with an average family size of 3 people. 46.8% were married couples living together, 28.63% had a female householder with no husband present, 13.8% had a male householder with no husband present, and 10.7% were cohabiting. The average household size was 2.

The population age was distributed such that 8.1% were 5 years or younger, 31.2% were between 5 and 18 years old, 68.8% were 18 years or older, and 16.8% were 65 years and older. The median age was 35.2 years.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,750, and the median income for a family was $46,350.[24]

Economy

[edit]

The local economy is based on ranching, farming, and the production of oil and natural gas.[4]

The local paper, starting as the Cimarron News in 1898 in Kenton, Oklahoma, has been known as The Boise City News since 1930.[25] Calling itself The Official Newspaper of Cimarron County, it is available in both print and digital editions.[26]

Transportation

[edit]
Main highway through Boise City, looking west (2011)

Highways include U.S. routes 56, 64, 287, 385, 412, and State Highway 325.[27]

The Boise City Airport, which serves all of the county, is located approximately six miles north of the town center.[28]

Commercial air transport is available out of Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport in Kansas[29] approximately 99 miles east-northeast of town,[30] or the larger Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Texas[31] about 127 miles south-southeast of town.[32]

Freight rail service is provided by BNSF Railway, as well as the Cimarron Valley Railroad.[13][33]

Attractions

[edit]

The Cimarron Heritage Center Museum includes exhibits and artifacts on dinosaurs, the Santa Fe Trail and other local historic sites.[34] The museum grounds showcase a restored Santa Fe Depot, a blacksmith shop, a one-room schoolhouse, a windmill exhibit, buggies, and more.[34] The grounds are home to "Cimmy" the "Cimarronasaurus", a metal sculpture 65 ft. long and 35 ft. tall, said to be a life-sized Apatosaurus dinosaur cut-out calculated from the bones of a dinosaur that was actually excavated in western Cimarron County in the 1930s.[35][36]

Santa Fe Train Caboose in Boise City, Oklahoma

The Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce is located in a red train caboose.[37] Out front of the caboose is featured the Boise City Bomb Memorial, commemorating the accidental 1943 aerial bombardment.[38]

Main article: National Register of Historic Places listings in Cimarron County, Oklahoma

Autograph Rock Historic District, containing rutted traces of the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail, features Autograph Rock, inscribed with the names of travelers from the 1850-1865 era.[39] Access to the site can be granted at the Cimarron Heritage Center Museum.[34] The separate Cold Spring and Inscription Rock Historic District similarly features Inscription Rock with Santa Fe Trail travelers' names inscribed, but also has a former camp site with a stone building that served as a stagecoach station, and a stone spring house.[40]

The Cimarron County Courthouse was designed by M.C. Parker in the Classical Revival and Neoclassical styles and constructed in red brick. It opened in 1926 after the previous wood-frame courthouse burned down.[41]

Notable people

[edit]
[edit]

Boise City during the Dust Bowl was the main setting for the 99th episode of the horror podcast The Magnus Archives.[43]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ They had claimed before their arrests in September 1909 that three railroads were coming through the town.[4] In fact, no railroad came through town until the Elkhart and Santa Fe Railway (both leased to and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway),[7] did so in 1925.[4] The tracks of that line continued to Felt, Oklahoma, and were extended to Clayton, New Mexico in 1932; but, the whole segment from Boise City to Clayton was abandoned in 1942.[8][9] The remainder from Boise City northeast is now part of the Cimarron Valley Railroad.[10] In 1931, Santa Fe built a new line north from Amarillo through Boise City and beyond.[11] That line, terminating in Springfield, Colorado,[12] is now known as the Boise City Subdivision or the Boise City Sub, operated by BNSF Railway.[13][14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Boise City, Oklahoma
  3. ^ a b "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Young, Norma Gene. "Boise City," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed June 17, 2015.
  5. ^ CensusViewer:Boise City, Oklahoma Population. Archived December 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  6. ^ "Search Results".
  7. ^ Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870 to April 1, 1978. State of Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Survey Division. April 1, 1978. p. 37.
  8. ^ "Cimarron County". Norma Gene Young, Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "Boise City, OK to Clayton, NM". AbandonedRails.com. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  10. ^ "Home". Cimarron Valley Railroad. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. ^ "Amarillo Area Towers". Texas Railroad History. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  12. ^ "Cimarron Valley Railroad (map)". Cimarron Valley Railroad. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "BNSF Subdivisions" (PDF). BNSF. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  14. ^ "Colorado trip for Private Car ride: Part 3, Pueblo to Amarillo via BNSF Boise City Sub, Sept. 23, 2010". CondrenRails.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  15. ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. "Survivor of Dust Bowl Now Battles a Fiercer Drought." New York Times. May 3, 2011. Accessed July 23, 2017.
  16. ^ Parker, Laura. "Parched: A New Dust Bowl Forms in the Heartland." National Geographic." May 17, 2014. Accessed July 23, 2017.
  17. ^ "War: The Bombing of Boise City". Time. July 19, 1943. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008.
  18. ^ Dary, David (March 10, 2015). "Bombed-Out Boise City". This Land Press. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  19. ^ "BOMBS AWAY -- ON BOISE CITY World War II error put Okla. Town on the map".
  20. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  21. ^ "The Snowiest Place in Each State". Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  22. ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Boise City 2E, OK". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  23. ^ "xmACIS2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  24. ^ "Explore Census Data".
  25. ^ "About the Boise City news". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  26. ^ "The Boise City News". Facebook. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  27. ^ "Boise City, OK". Google Maps. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  28. ^ "Boise City Airport to Boise, OK". Google Maps. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  29. ^ "Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport". City of Liberal. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  30. ^ "Liberal Airport to Guymon, Oklahoma". Google Maps. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  31. ^ "Welcome". Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  32. ^ "Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport to Boise City, Oklahoma". Google Maps. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  33. ^ "Oklahoma 2018-2020 State Railroad Map" (PDF). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  34. ^ a b c "Cimarron Heritage Center Museum". TravelOK.com. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  35. ^ "Boise City, Oklahoma: Life-Size Metal Dinosaur". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  36. ^ "Cimmy the Dinosaur". TravelOK.com. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  37. ^ "Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce". Facebook. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  38. ^ The Memorial may have been taken in, temporarily or permanently. "Boise City Bomb Memorial". Roadtrippers. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  39. ^ "Autograph Rock Historic District". Oklahoma. Archived from the original on June 22, 2010.
  40. ^ "Cold Spring and Inscription Rock Historic District". Oklahoma. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  41. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Cimarron County Courthouse" (PDF). National Park Service. July 18, 1984. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  42. ^ Foley, Jr., Hugh W. "Vera Miles," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society; accessed May 5, 2015.
  43. ^ "MAG099 - Dust to Dust • The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A (Extremely Unofficial)". snarp.github.io. Retrieved April 21, 2021.

Further reading

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[edit]
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