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Stillwater (Pawnee: Kiicawiʾuusiʾit, Kstiíriwara) is a city in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. 177 and State Highway 51. It is the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 45,688. Stillwater is the principal city of the Stillwater Micropolitan Statistical Area which had a population of 77,350 according to the 2010 census. Stillwater was part of first Land Run held April 22, 1889, when Oklahoma Territory's  Unassigned Lands were opened for settlement. The city charter was adopted on August 24 later that year. Stillwater is home to Oklahoma State University, Northern Oklahoma College/OSU Gateway, Meridian Technology Center and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

19th century
The north-central region of Oklahoma became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In 1832, author, storyteller, and traveler Washington Irving provided the first recorded description of the area around Stillwater in his book A Tour on the Prairies. He wrote of “a glorious prairie spreading out beneath the golden beams of an autumnal sun. The deep and frequent traces of buffalo, showed it to be a one of their favorite grazing grounds.” On April 22, 1889, the Unassigned Lands of the Oklahoma Territory were opened for homesteading with the first Land Run. By the end of the day, 240 acre had been claimed and designated as Stillwater township and a tent city with a population numbering 300 had sprung up on the prairie.

On Christmas Eve, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial legislature passed a bill certifying Stillwater as the land grant college site. In 1894, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College held a dedication of its first brick building, Assembly Building, later known as Old Central. Between 1889 and statehood, Stillwater grew. By statehood in 1907, downtown Stillwater was home to more than 50 buildings including several banks, churches, grocery stores, hotels, and department stores.

The first newspaper was the Stillwater Gazette; telephone and gas service arrived in 1899; and the Eastern Oklahoma Railroad arrived in 1900. The population was less than 500 in 1900.

20th century
The population in 1917 was 3,000 and by World War II it had grown to more than 10,000. During the war, town leaders’ aim was to convert Oklahoma A&M into a war training center. They succeeded in creating 12 training units that involved bringing nearly 40,000 service men and women to Stillwater. The W.A.V.E.S. (Women’s Reserve of the U.S. Naval Reserve) was the largest with 10,000 participants. Quonset huts were dotted across town and barracks occupied the site where Stillwater Medical Center and the CareerTech headquarters are now. This vast operation tided the city through the war and served as a base for a healthy economy in the postwar period.

In 1952, the Industrial Foundation was established and its trustees worked to bring new industry to town: Moore Plant in 1966, Mercury Marine in 1973, National Standard plant in 1988, World Color Press in 1974 and Armstrong World Industries, Inc. in 1988. The census of 2000, the population was 39,065; however, the population was adjusted to 46,156 in 2009.

City name
According to one legend, local Native American tribes — Ponca, Kiowa, Osage, Pawnee — called the creek “Still Water” because the water was always still. Another legend states that cattlemen driving herds from Texas to railways back east always found water "still there".

Regardless, the creek received its official name in 1884 when William L. Couch established his “boomer colony” on its banks. The placid, spring-like creek became known as Stillwater. While the creek may have been tranquil, the next few years saw turmoil as pioneers sought free, fertile land and soldiers held them off while complicated legal issues and land titles with Creek and Seminole tribes were hashed out. On April 22, 1889, the cannons fired signaling the race to acquire land, and towns, including Stillwater, sprang up overnight. Another story of how that goes is David Payne walked up to Stillwater Creek and said, “This town should be named Still Water”. Members of the board thought he was crazy, but the name stuck.

Entertainment areas
The Strip on Washington Street features small shops, restaurants and live music. It is adjacent to Oklahoma State University where University Avenue and Washington Street intersect. A few blocks east is Campus Corner on Knoblock Street that features unique shops and restaurants, including the original home to Hideaway Pizza.

Higher education

 * Oklahoma State University
 * Northern Oklahoma College

Annual festivals and community events
Stillwater is home to a number of annual festivals and community events held throughout the year. Residents also benefit from the many events and activities hosted by Oklahoma State University. Spring kicks off with the Stillwater Public Education Foundation's A Taste of Stillwater, a fundraiser held each March. Other events include the Stillwater Elks BBQ Blaze-a-thon, Tumbleweed Calf Fry For more than twenty years, the Eskimo Joe's Juke Joint Jog 5K and Fun Run has been held in the fall to benefit the Stillwater Area United Way.

Performing arts
Stillwater hosts several performing arts series, including performances at the City of Stillwater Community Center, the Town and Gown Community Theater and OSU’s Allied Arts held in the Seretean Center on the OSU-Stillwater campus.

Stillwater is served by several voluntary organizations dedicated to providing entertainment and cultural experiences: the Stillwater Community Singers, the Stillwater Community Band and Stillwater Jazz.

Stillwater scene
Stillwater is known as the home of Red Dirt Music, a mixture of folk, country, blues and rock, and its local hometown heroes Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Red Dirt Rangers, The Great Divide, No Justice, Jenny Labow, the Jason Savory Band, and the grandfather of Red Dirt Music, Bob Childers.

Garth Brooks, Other Lives (band) and The All-American Rejects got their start playing the local bars like Willie’s Saloon, Tumbleweed Dance Hall and Concert Arena, and Eskimo Joe’s.

Eskimo Joe's has celebrated its anniversary in July for more than 35 years. It has been voted “Best College Post-Game Hangout” by Sporting News, ranked #3 in "The Perfect 10 College Sports Bars" by Sports Illustrated and named in Playboy.com's “Top 10 College Sports Bars,” and Joe's shirts have been spotted all around the globe.

Tumbleweed, home of the world-famous annual Calf Fry, was also nominated as one of the five top venues for the “Dancehall of the Year” award by the Academy of County Music.

Located on The Strip on Washington Street, Willie's Saloon has been a Stillwater tradition since 1974. It is known for being the venue where country music's Garth Brooks began his career after being spotted there by Dallas entertainment attorney, Rod Phelps.

Museums and points of interest
The Sheerar Museum of Stillwater History is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of Stillwater. The museum features exhibits about Stillwater and Payne County, including the first land run that opened Oklahoma Territory for settlement in 1889. The Museum is undergoing a renovation of its exhibit gallery in 2012 to move from the previous design of decades based Permanent exhibits to exhibits focused on significant themes in Stillwater's history. The Sheerar Museum of Stillwater History also offers a variety of temporary exhibits and programs that change on an annual basis.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is also located in Stillwater. It is dedicated to preserving the heritage of the sport, celebrating achievements, and encouraging young athletes in the sport.

The Washington Irving Trail and Museum, located in a rural setting, celebrates the heritage of Payne County. Famed American writer Washington Irving camped nearby in 1832. In 1861 the first battle of the American Civil War in Indian Territory took place northeast of the museum, near Yale, and in 1893 the Doolin-Dalton gang battles U.S. Marshals at nearby Ingalls. In 1925 the Billy McGinty/Otto Gray Cowboy Band, of Ripley, became the first cowboy band in the nation to play over the radio. The museum also features Boomer leader David L. Payne.

The OSU Gardiner Art Gallery is a part of the OSU College of Arts and Sciences Art Department. Exhibits, which are open to the public, vary from student and faculty exhibits to national show.

Oklahoma Botanical Garden and Arboretum covers more than 100 acre with thousands of species of flowers, shrubs, grasses and trees. It features specialized gardens like butterfly and organic gardens, turf and nursery research centers and a Centennial Grove. It also has a 4.5 acre studio garden where OETA's show "Oklahoma Gardening" is filmed. The facility, located west of Stillwater on State Highway 51, also has a Japanese Tea Ceremony Garden.

The Oklahoma WONDERtorium is a children's museum that provides outreach programs and takes hands-on, play-to-learn encounters and activities to elementary classrooms, preschools and child care centers.

David L. Payne Memorial Monument, located in Boomer Lake Park, honors Captain David L. Payne, known for efforts during the 1880s to open unassigned lands for settlement. In 1995, his body was exhumed and moved from Wellington, Kan., to this site. Payne County, Oklahoma, is named for him.

International Friendship Garden is located at the City of Stillwater Community Center and was built in 1997 by the Kameoka Landscape Gardeners Association to celebrate the program’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration. The gardeners purchased and shipped 22 tons of materials, tools and supplies to Stillwater, and over a two-week period they constructed a traditional Japanese garden. They also built a small tea garden at the Oklahoma Botanical Garden at Oklahoma State University. The International Friendship Garden was dedicated Sunday, July 26, 1998, with a delegation from Kameoka in attendance.

Stillwater is home to the Original Hideaway Pizza, which is also Oklahoma's oldest pizzeria.

Historical properties
The following Stillwater sites are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:


 * James E. Berry House (502 S. Duck St.)
 * Campus Fire Station (600 W. University Ave.)
 * Citizens Bank Building (107 E. 9th Ave.)
 * Cottonwood Community Center (N.W. of Stillwater)
 * Frick William House (1016 S. West St.)
 * Hoke Building (121 S. 7th Ave.)
 * Magruder Plots (Oklahoma State University-Stillwater)
 * Murphy House (419 S. Monroe St.)
 * Oklahoma A & M College Agronomy Barn and Seed House (2902 W. 6th St. Building #610)
 * Old Central (Oklahoma State University-Stillwater)
 * Payne County Courthouse (606 S. Husband St.)
 * Pleasant Valley School (1901 S. Sangre Rd.)
 * Selph Building (119 W. 7th Ave.)
 * Stillwater Santa Fe Depot (400 E. 10th Ave.)
 * Walker Building (117 W. 7th Ave.)
 * Sigma Chi Fraternity (1101 W. University Ave.)
 * FarmHouse Fraternity ( 305 S. Monroe Ave.)

Public art
The Stillwater Public Library dedicated a bronze statue of Oklahoma historian/author Angie Debo on Nov. 18, 2010. Created by local artist Phyllis Mantik, the statue depicts a young Debo sitting on a rock with several books by her side. Mantik chose to depict the historian as a young woman to illustrate that at an early age she chose the life of a scholar rather than what was expected of a woman of her time. To highlight Debo's importance to Oklahoma's Native American Tribes, the base of the statue is surrounded by the seals of Oklahoma's 38 federally recognized Native American Tribes.

Media
Stillwater’s newspaper of record is the NewsPress, owned by the Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. The community is also served by the weekly Stillwater Journal, owned and published by David and Lisa Sasser. The Daily O'Collegian has been published since 1895 as a daily paper by Oklahoma State University and is an affiliate of the College Media Network.

Stillwater is also home to several radio stations, including Stillwater Radio that broadcasts on four stations: KSPI 780 AM, sports/talk; KVRO 101.1 FM, classic rock; KGFY 105.5 FM, country music; and KSPI 93.7 FM, adult contemporary, and the home of OSU and Stillwater High School sports. KOSU 91.7 FM is owned by Oklahoma State University and is a national public radio station (NPR).

White Peacock Publishing publishes Stillwater Living Magazine, a full-color monthly magazine. Stillwater Scene, published by Red Productions, is a monthly print and online magazine that focuses on local entertainment.

Stillwater TV23 is a government-access television station airing on Suddenlink Media’s channel 23. It broadcasts programming provided by the City of Stillwater, including live and rebroadcasts of Stillwater City Council and Planning Commission meetings.

Sports
Most sports in Stillwater center around the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The OSU Cowboys have won 51 NCAA National Championships. Men programs include baseball, basketball, football, cross country, golf, wrestling, tennis, and track and field. Women programs include basketball, cross country, tennis, equestrian, soccer, softball, tennis, and track and field.

Stillwater High School is a 6A school. The Stillwater Pioneers compete in the following sports: football, volleyball, softball, cross country, cheerleading, pom, wrestling, basketball (boys), basketball (girls), swimming, baseball, golf (boys), golf (girls), tennis (boys), tennis (girls), soccer (boys)and soccer (girls).

Parks and outdoor attractions
The City of Stillwater Parks and Recreation Department manages more than 5,000 acre of parkland, including five ball complexes, ten tennis courts, two disc golf courses, four lakes, one swimming pool, 14 playgrounds, one skate/bmx bike ramp, special services centers, including the Multi Arts Center, Senior Activity Center, Community Center,  Armory Gymnasium and Lakeside Golf Course.

Lake McMurtry, owned by the City of Stillwater, offers hiking and mountain-bike trails, back-to-nature camping and well-stocked reserves for fishing. Its convenience store and bait shop are open seasonal hours.

Lake Carl Blackwell is owned by Oklahoma State University. It offers camping, gift shop, covered pavilion, grills, restrooms and boat rentals.

Golf
Several golf courses are located in Stillwater.
 * The 18-hole course at the Karsten Creek Golf Club features 7,095 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 74.8 and it has a slope rating of 142 on Zoysia grass.
 * The 18-hole Lakeside Golf Course features 6,698 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 70 . The course rating is 71.3 and it has a slope rating of 117.
 * The 18-hole course at the Stillwater Country Club features 6,471 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 70. The course rating is 71.0 and it has a slope rating of 125.
 * The 18-hole course at the The Links At Stillwater features 6,258 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 71.

Walking and multi-use trails
Stillwater is served by a number of paved and unpaved bicycle and walking trails for non-motorized forms of transit. The Kameoka Trail Corridor includes a three-mile (5 km) loop around Boomer Lake and several disconnected segments throughout the city. Following this general route:


 * Around Boomer Lake and south to the Stillwater High School
 * Running from McElroy south to Hall of Fame between Main and Perkins
 * Running through Hoyt Grove Park
 * South from Park View Estates along West Boomer Creek

And the additional multi-use trails:
 * Asphalt trail through Couch Park
 * Dirt nature trail around Sanborn Lake
 * Bike and pedestrian trails at Lake McMurtry
 * Teal Ridge
 * Tech Park Trail, a one-mile (1.6 km) gravel screenings loop at the Oklahoma Technology & Research Park

Transportation
Stillwater has two highways running through it: State Highway 51, or 6th Avenue, runs east and west; and U.S. 177, or Perkins Road, runs north and south. The city is also served by a 7.2 mi spur that connects U.S. 177 to the Cimarron Turnpike.

The city has been served by the Stillwater Regional Airport since 1917. Private jets fly in and out of this airport, however, no commercial airlines fly into this facility as of 2012. The closest commercial airports are in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, approximately 75–90 minutes from Stillwater.

Public transportation is provided by the OSU/Stillwater Community Transit System. Ten bus routes are operated within the Stillwater's city limits and on the OSU campus.

Utilities
Stillwater has been a community-owned electric utility since 1907. The electric utility, now part of the Stillwater Utilities Authority, provides electric, water, wastewater and solid waste management services. A portion of the Utility Authority’s revenues help to support the City of Stillwater’s fire and police departments, the parks and recreation system, and other city services. Water in Stillwater is drawn from Kaw Lake and pumped approximately 40 mi to the treatment facility.

Health care
Stillwater Medical Center is a 119 bed non-profit public trust facility. Services offered by the hospital include emergency, wound care, labor and delivery, surgery, radiology, rehabilitation, cancer care, and wellness.

The community is also served by the Stillwater Surgery Center, an outpatient surgery center, and the Stillwater Cancer Center, a physician-owned cancer treatment center. Residents who seek the full services of a teaching hospital must travel to OU medical center, about 70–80 minutes to the south.

The Payne County Health Department is also located in Stillwater and offers services such as WIC, consumer protection, health promotion, and chronic and acute disease services.

Awards and recognition

 * In 2010, Stillwater was named the "6th Fastest Growing Small Town in America" by Forbes.com. Stillwater saw a growth of 8.0% from 2006 to 2009 as the population of Stillwater and surrounding community rose from 73,818 to 79,727.  Stillwater proper remains a jurisdiction of less than 50,000.
 * CNN/Money Magazine rated Stillwater, OK, #67 on its top 100 places to live list for 2010.


 * Stillwater is a member of Tree City USA.

Notable people
Alternative-rock band The All American Rejects hail from Stillwater.


 * James Marsden, actor (X-Men, The Notebook, Superman Returns, Hairspray).
 * Xavier Adibi, American professional football player.
 * Jenny Labow, Singer/Songwriter/Actress.
 * Robert DoQui (1934 - 1998), actor (Coffy, RoboCop).
 * Burr DeBenning (1936 - 2003), actor (A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, Matlock, Magnum, P.I., Rockford Files, Columbo).
 * Ai Ogawa (1947 - 2010), birth name Florence Anthony, poet and educator.
 * Julian Ewell (1915 -2009), Lieutenant General, U. S.Army
 * Chester Gould (1900 - 1985), Nationally-known American cartoonist.