Arkoma is a town in

LeFlore County Leflore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,339. The county seat is Greenwood. The county is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore, who signed a treaty to cede his pe ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. It is part of the

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,989 at the 2010 census, a decline from 2,180 in 2000. The name of the town is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Throughout its history, Arkoma has served as a "

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

" because many residents commuted to work in Fort Smith.Larry O'Dell, "Arkoma", ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed March 20, 2015.

History

The community of Arkoma was established ''circa'' 1911 on land owned by Captain James Reynolds, a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran who had married into the Choctaw Nation. He chose to turn his property into a suburb of Fort Smith. He built houses to rent. He persuaded the Fort Smith Light and Traction Company to construct tracks and operate an electric trolley route to his new community. The streetcar line ceased operating in 1917. Arkoma was incorporated as a town in 1946.

Geography

Arkoma is located on the same side of the Arkansas River as

, and is bounded by the

Poteau River The Poteau River is a river located in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Oklahoma extending 141 miles (227 kilometers).U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 3, 2011 It is the ...

to the west and north, and the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

state line to the east. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (2.23%) is water. Arkoma enjoys a temperate climate with often mild winters and hot summers.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,989 people living in the town. The population density was . There were 975 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 89.22%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.41%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 5.78% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.87% from other races, and 3.39% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.83% of the population. There were 877 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.97. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $23,718, and the median income for a family was $31,500. Males had a median income of $24,200 versus $17,104 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $13,467. About 17.0% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 18.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Arkoma High School

Arkoma Public Library

''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' - Arkoma

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Towns in LeFlore County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Fort Smith metropolitan area