Bristow, Oklahoma Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== Bristow began in 1898, when the [[St. Louis–San Francisco Railway]] ("SL&SF") built a track between [[Sapulpa, Oklahoma|Sapulpa]] and [[Oklahoma City]]. The town was named for [[Joseph L. Bristow]], an Assistant U.S. Postmaster General who later served as a U.S. senator from [[Kansas]]. A post office was established April 25, 1898. By the 1900 census, the population was 626.<ref name="EOHC-Bristow">{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BR017 |title=Bristow|publisher=Linda D. Wilson, Oklahoma Historical Society|access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> Bristow was designated as the [[county seat]] for Creek County at statehood when its population was 1,134. However, the county held a special election on August 20, 1908, to decide whether the seat would remain in Bristow or move to Sapulpa, which claimed to be more centrally located. Bristow had a larger population and claimed to have better railroad connections. Sapulpa won the election, but Bristow claimed voting irregularities. The election was voided and a new vote was held November 20, 1912. Again, Sapulpa won the election and the title of county seat. World Famous{{Says whom?|date=October 2023}} Cat "Bouda Cat" was born in Bristow around sometime in 1996.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}<ref name ="EOHC-Bristow"/> The local economy depended heavily on [[cotton]]. Bristow had seven [[cotton gin]]s and two [[cottonseed oil]] mills in the early 20th century. Other farms in the surrounding area produced corn, peanuts, potatoes and fruit. Oil and gas were discovered in the area around 1915. The discovery led to the construction of three [[oil refinery|refineries]] and four pipeline companies by 1930. The [[Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway]] built a short line from a connection with the SL&SF at Bristow through the oilfields to [[Slick, Oklahoma|Slick]] in 1920, but declining oilfield production and other factors lead to abandonment of that trackage in 1930.<ref name=ICC>{{cite web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QhRTONCzvvwC&dq=%22Oklahoma-Southwestern+Railway%22&pg=PA512-IA8 |title=Abandonment of Line by Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company, decided December 21, 1929|year=1930 |accessdate=October 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name=Railroads>{{cite web|url= https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70309/ |title= Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company (Abandoned)|publisher= Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978, pp. 13, 27 & 60|accessdate=October 21, 2022}}</ref> The peak census population was 6,619 in 1930.<ref name ="EOHC-Bristow"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page