Waurika

Waurika is given as an American Indian word meaning clear or pure water. The town began with the opening of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache lands on August 6, 1901, and the first building on the townsite was James McGraw's homestead cabin. The Rock Island made it a flag station, and its first train stopped here in January 1902. About three thousand people came to the first town lot sale on June 18, 1902. Waurika won the county seat in a 1912 election, peaked at 3,204 residents in 1920, and turned its restored depot into the public library.

What the plaque says

Waurika On 98th Meridian, West Long. This is the only county seat on the 98th Meridian in Oklahoma. Townsite, on west side of line, was in Kiowa-Comanche Reser- vation opened to settlement on Aug. 6, 1901. Moneka was the post office, established 1895, on east side of line, in Pickens Co., Chickasaw N. Waurika post office opened June 28, 1902. Oklahoma Historical Society and State Highway Commission 1956

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chisholm Trail Heritage Center — 25 mi
  Duncan's museum of the cattle trail on US-81, with an 18-minute drive film, a western art gallery and the route through the Chickasaw Nation to Silver City and the Canadian.

More markers nearby

• Walters, Oklahoma — 23 mi