Spavinaw is a town in Mayes County,

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. The population was 350 at the 2020 census, down from 437 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The town is best known as the birthplace of baseball player

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

. It is also notable for the nearby Lake Spavinaw, the principal source of water for

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

History

The town is named for

Spavinaw Creek Spavinaw Creek is a stream that begins in Arkansas and flows west into Oklahoma. The mouth is at located at Lake Hudson. The creek drains 400 square miles of the Ozark Mountain foothills and farm land. Two lakes, Lake Spavinaw and Lake Eucha, ...

, a stream named by French traders and explorers who travelled here in the 18th century. According to historian Muriel Wright, the name was a corrupted form of the French word ''ce'pee'' (meaning "young growth or shoots of wood") plus the French adjective ''vineux'' (wine colored). This term referred to a description of the color of black jack,

post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

and red oak trees which grow here in springtime.Wright, Muriel H. "Some Geographic Names of French Origin in Oklahoma." ''Chronicles of Oklahoma''. Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 188-193.
Accessed March 5, 2016. The first recorded settler here was Lewis Rogers, son of Captain John Rogers. Lewis set up a mill, a

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

and a

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...

in 1829. In 1839, the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

began moving into the Spavinaw area of Indian Territory as a result of Indian removal. The Cherokee council outlawed the operation of distilleries in their area and dispossessed Rogers of his distillery and the salt works, both of which had already been damaged by a flooding of Spavinaw Creek.Thomas, Betty Lou Harper. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Spavinaw."
/ref> In 1846, Jacob Croft, a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

en route to

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, decided to settle here instead. He was hired by Joseph Lynch Martin to restore the mill. In 1855, a group of Mormon missionaries from Utah arrived at Croft's home and began converting Cherokees and Creeks. When they began urging the converts to move to Utah, Lewis Rogers complained to the Cherokee council. In October 1856, Chief John Ross ordered all Mormons out of the Cherokee nation. After the

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 ...

, Joseph "Greenbrier Joe" Lynch, brother-in-law of Joseph Lynch Martin, began operating the mill and the salt works. Greenbrier Joe had saved enough money to buy . "Spavinaw, Profile of American History."
Retrieved February 13, 2015. The community that grew up around these works became known as "Lynch's Mill". In October 1878, the community was renamed Spavinaw Mills.

Lake Spavinaw

After the city of Tulsa began the

Spavinaw Water Project The Spavinaw Water Project was established to provide fresh water for Tulsa, Oklahoma from a site on Spavinaw Creek near the town of Spavinaw in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Planning and financing began in 1919, The project scope included site select ...

in the 1920s, construction began on the Spavinaw Dam, which created Lake Spavinaw from Spavinaw Creek. The project submerged the site of the former Spavinaw Mills. The residents moved a short distance to found a new town called Spavinaw.

Geography

Spavinaw is in northeastern Mayes County, on the north side of

about upstream from its confluence with the

Neosho River The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National ...

in Lake Hudson. State Highways 20 and 82 pass through the town as Main Street. The combined highways lead southwest to Salina. They split north of town, with Highway 20 leading east to

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

and Highway 82 leading north to Langley. According to the

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

, the town has a total area of , all land. The Spavinaw Dam, forming Lake Spavinaw, the main water supplier of the city of

, is directly east of the town limits. Tulsa is west of the town.

Climate

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Spavinaw had a population of 437. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 59.3% non-Hispanic, white 27.9%, non-Hispanic Native American 2.1%, Hispanic Native American, 9.2% reporting two or more races and 4.3% Hispanic or Latino of any race.2010 general profile of population and housing characteristics of Spavinaw from the US Census 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 2000, there were 563 people, 215 households, and 141 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 290 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 63.06%

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 ...

, 26.11% Native American, 0.53% from other races, and 10.30% 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 3.73% of the population. There were 215 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.7% 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, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.24. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $19,792, and the median income for a family was $22,188. Males had a median income of $24,028 versus $17,750 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 $11,010. Approximately 28.7% of families and 27.7% 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 38.2% of those under the age of 18 and 13.8% of those 65 and older.

Education

The majority of Spavinaw is in the

Jay Public Schools Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

school district. A northern portion is in the

Adair Public Schools The Adair Independent School District is a school district based in Adair, Oklahoma (United States). The district includes three schools and serves more than 1,010 students. The school received a grade of A on its 2012 district report card.< ...

school district.
Text list
/ref>

Notable people

(1931–1995),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

player for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Audra Smoke-Conner Audra Smoke-Conner (born August 10, 1968) is a Cherokee politician who served on the Cherokee Nation tribal council for district 1 from 2003 to 2007. Early life and education Audra Smoke-Conner was born on August 10, 1968, to William and Debora ...

(born 1968), Cherokee Nation tribal councilor (2003–2007)

References

{{authority control Towns in Mayes County, Oklahoma Towns in Oklahoma