April 22, 1889
As County 5
Kingfisher County
1890
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History
The opening of the Unassigned Lands or Oklahoma District to non-Indian settlement on April 22, 1889, brought settlers to the region. Kingfisher town quickly grew up. Various explanations exist for the appellation "Kingfisher." It may have memorialized a rancher named David King Fisher, who operated north of town and gave his name to the creek; or nearby settlers King and Fisher may have been memorialized in a combined word. Or a rancher named John Fisher and his nephew, first name King, may be honored; in this version, Uncle John Creek is named for Fisher.
Created as a county in Oklahoma Territory in the Organic Act of May 2, 1890, the area originally consisted of sixteen full townships and two partial townships lying northeast of the Cimarron River and west of the 98th Meridian. The county's northern border was the south line of the Cherokee Outlet. Thus the present boundaries include a strip approximately one-quarter mile deep in Township 20 North, Ranges 9 through 5 West. The county's area was increased pending the opening of the Cheyenne and Arapaho country in April 1892. Seven full townships and two partial townships (southwest of the Cimarron River and west of the 98th Meridian, as established by the 1858/1870 surveys) were added on the west, bringing the total area to 906 square miles. As specified in the Organic Act, the county was called County Five, the number reflecting the counties created from the Unassigned Lands, and Kingfisher City was named the county seat. Also as directed by the legislation, on August 5, 1890, during the first election for territorial representatives from County Five voters overwhelmingly selected "Kingfisher" as the county's name, over "Hennesey" and "Harrison."
Some new residents were natives of foreign lands. Germans and Germans from Russia who had earlier emigrated to the Midwest and to Kansas came to Kingfisher County to settle in the early 1890s. The Germans formed ethnic enclaves in Park and Harrison townships, in the south-central part of the county, and by 1910 they made up 5 percent of the residents.
Links
Kingfisher COunty Mail List on Rootsweb
Kingfisher County Query Board on Rootsweb
Kingfisher County Query Board on Genforum
Cemetery Listings on Interment.net
Kingfisher County Cemetery Listings on Okcemeteries.net
Kingfisher County Cemetery Listings on Find A Grave
Free Records Search at Familysearch Org
Kingfisher County Courthouse
101 South Main St.
Kingfisher, OK 73750
County Clerk
Room 3
Phone (405)375-3887
Fax (405)375-4249
County Court Clerk
Phone (405)375-4249
Adjacent Counties
Garfield County | Logan County | Canadian County | Blaine County | Major County
Oklahoma County