Hugo, Oklahoma
Encyclopedia
Hugo is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state
of Oklahoma
, bordering Texas
. Hugo is the county seat
for Choctaw County
and has a population of 5,395 as of 2009 estimates. The city serves as winter quarters for some circus performers. It is adjacent to the oldest school west of the Mississippi: Goodland Academy
, begun in 1848.
The town is located in a cultural area of the state known as Little Dixie
, as it was settled by Native American tribes, African Americans and European Americans from the Southeast United States. It is near the tourist area of Kiamichi Country
.
The city was split in two by the construction of the railroad through town. Historically, to the south of the tracks is an African-American neighborhood, where the Booker T. Washington
High school is located; north of the tracks is a European-American area, where the former General Robert E. Lee
High is located (today it is called Hugo High School).
to which the United States government relocated Native American tribes from east of the Mississippi River
in the 1830s under its Indian Removal
policy. Among the nations relocated here were the Choctaw
, for whom the county is named. They were one of what were called the "Five Civilized Tribes
" of the southeastern United States, as they had adopted numerous elements of European-American culture. When they relocated, they brought with them the numerous African-American slaves whom they held. As the Choctaw allied with the Confederate
South
during the American Civil War
, the United States government insisted on a new peace treaty with them after its end. A condition was the Choctaws' emancipation
of their slaves and granting to the freedmen of rights of full citizenship in the Choctaw nation, as the US was granting citizenship to former slaves of the South.
In the early 20th century, a number of Jewish immigrants, fleeing the chaos and intensifying anti-Semitism of the waning years of the Czarist Russian Empire, settled in Hugo. They generally became merchants, shopkeepers and peddlers. One was Abe Romick, who later moved to Alaska
and was appointed as the state's first Secretary of Commerce. By the early 1950s, nearly all the Jewish Americans had left Hugo to settle in larger cities such as Dallas and Fort Worth, where there were more opportunities. By the 1970s, no ethnic Jews lived in Hugo. Present-day townspeople are generally not aware of this part of the city's history.
In late 1993, the town suffered several violent incidents. Before Christmas, a shootout occurred in a Wal-Mart
parking lot. Within one week in December, two fires occurred; the first was at the Booker T. Washington gymnasium on December 26. On December 28 a fire erupted in the central business district of Hugo, consuming five buildings and burning for four hours. The Belmont Hotel, which the area historical society was renovating, was destroyed. Area authorities suspected that the fires were arson
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 5.6 square miles (14.5 km²), of which, 5.5 square miles (14.2 km²) of it is land and 0.18% is water.
of 2000, there were 5,536 people, 2,309 households, and 1,415 families residing in the city. The population density
was 999.0 people per square mile (385.8/km²). There were 2,798 housing units at an average density of 504.9 per square mile (195.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.28% White, 30.6% African American, 14.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races
, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.61% of the population.
There were 2,309 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples
living together, 20.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,321, and the median income for a family was $26,523. Males had a median income of $26,473 versus $17,348 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $11,676. About 25.5% of families and 29.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.5% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those age 65 or over.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, bordering Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Hugo is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
for Choctaw County
Choctaw County, Oklahoma
Choctaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 15,342. Its county seat is Hugo.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....
and has a population of 5,395 as of 2009 estimates. The city serves as winter quarters for some circus performers. It is adjacent to the oldest school west of the Mississippi: Goodland Academy
Goodland Academy
Goodland Academy is a private school and home located southwest of Hugo in Southeastern Oklahoma. Founded in 1848 as a mission of the Presbyterian Church, it also has the distinction of being the oldest private boarding school in Oklahoma still in operation....
, begun in 1848.
The town is located in a cultural area of the state known as Little Dixie
Little Dixie (Oklahoma)
Little Dixie is the name given to the southeast region of Oklahoma, which is heavily influenced by southern "Dixie" culture, as it was settled chiefly by Southerners seeking a start in new lands following the American Civil War...
, as it was settled by Native American tribes, African Americans and European Americans from the Southeast United States. It is near the tourist area of Kiamichi Country
Kiamichi country
Southeastern Oklahoma, also known by its official tourism designation, Kiamichi Country, encompasses the southeastern quarter of the state of Oklahoma. The term "Kiamichi Country" was coined by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as one of six travel destination regions within the...
.
The city was split in two by the construction of the railroad through town. Historically, to the south of the tracks is an African-American neighborhood, where the Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
High school is located; north of the tracks is a European-American area, where the former General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
High is located (today it is called Hugo High School).
History
This was part of the Indian TerritoryIndian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
to which the United States government relocated Native American tribes from east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in the 1830s under its Indian Removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
policy. Among the nations relocated here were the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, for whom the county is named. They were one of what were called the "Five Civilized Tribes
Five Civilized Tribes
The Five Civilized Tribes were the five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole—that were considered civilized by Anglo-European settlers during the colonial and early federal period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good...
" of the southeastern United States, as they had adopted numerous elements of European-American culture. When they relocated, they brought with them the numerous African-American slaves whom they held. As the Choctaw allied with the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
South
South
South is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the United States government insisted on a new peace treaty with them after its end. A condition was the Choctaws' emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
of their slaves and granting to the freedmen of rights of full citizenship in the Choctaw nation, as the US was granting citizenship to former slaves of the South.
In the early 20th century, a number of Jewish immigrants, fleeing the chaos and intensifying anti-Semitism of the waning years of the Czarist Russian Empire, settled in Hugo. They generally became merchants, shopkeepers and peddlers. One was Abe Romick, who later moved to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and was appointed as the state's first Secretary of Commerce. By the early 1950s, nearly all the Jewish Americans had left Hugo to settle in larger cities such as Dallas and Fort Worth, where there were more opportunities. By the 1970s, no ethnic Jews lived in Hugo. Present-day townspeople are generally not aware of this part of the city's history.
In late 1993, the town suffered several violent incidents. Before Christmas, a shootout occurred in a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
parking lot. Within one week in December, two fires occurred; the first was at the Booker T. Washington gymnasium on December 26. On December 28 a fire erupted in the central business district of Hugo, consuming five buildings and burning for four hours. The Belmont Hotel, which the area historical society was renovating, was destroyed. Area authorities suspected that the fires were arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
.
Geography
Hugo is located at 34°0′34"N 95°30′53"W (34.009308, -95.514601).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 5.6 square miles (14.5 km²), of which, 5.5 square miles (14.2 km²) of it is land and 0.18% is water.
Climate
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,536 people, 2,309 households, and 1,415 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 999.0 people per square mile (385.8/km²). There were 2,798 housing units at an average density of 504.9 per square mile (195.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 49.28% White, 30.6% African American, 14.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.61% of the population.
There were 2,309 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 20.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,321, and the median income for a family was $26,523. Males had a median income of $26,473 versus $17,348 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $11,676. About 25.5% of families and 29.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.5% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- Hugo information and video on TravelOK.com Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
- Choctaw County Public Library (Hugo, OK)
- "Hugo", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture