Gans, Oklahoma

Gans is a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 312 at the 2010 census, an increase of 50 percent over the figure of 208 recorded in 2000.

History
At the time of its founding, Gans was located in the Sequoyah District of the Cherokee Nation. It was originally called Jack Town, but was renamed Gann after three brothers, who were Cherokee Indians, settled there: Charlie Gann, Swimmer Gann, and Tom Gann.

A post office opened at Gann, Indian Territory on March 21, 1896. The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad built a line through the area during 1895-6 and requested that the name be changed to Gans, since it already had two stations named Gann. The name of the post office changed to Gans on September 8, 1899.

Gans incorporated in 1902. It lost this status in 1933. It reincorporated in 1953. The town was seriously damaged by a tornado in 1957, but later rebuilt.

Geography
Gans is located 7 miles southeast of Sallisaw. The post office, established in 1896, was also renamed Gans.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.2 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 208 people, 79 households, and 57 families living in the town. The population density was 1,111.7 PD/sqmi. There were 87 housing units at an average density of 465.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 70.67% White, 0.96% African American, 26.44% Native American, 0.48% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.48% of the population.

There were 79 households, out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 19.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 31.3% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 14.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $17,344, and the median income for a family was $23,750. Males had a median income of $24,375 versus $12,188 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,922. About 25.9% of families and 27.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.0% of those under the age of 18 and 25.8% of those 65 or over.

Notable people

 * Cal Smith, country music star
 * Bryant "Big Country" Reeves, played in the NBA for the Vancouver Grizzlies from 1995 to 2001.