Okmulgee County, Oklahoma: History
The Creek Nation was removed into this part of Indian Territory along the Trail of Tears after signing treaties exchanging their land in Georgia and Alabama in 1826 and 1832. The actual move occurred over the period from 1827 to 1836. The Creek Nation government, led by chief Samuel Checote, revised its constitution in 1867 and designated Okmulgee as its capital in 1868. The U.S. Post Office opened in Okmulgee on April 29, 1869. The Creek Nation built its capitol, a log building, in 1869. The building was rebuilt of stone in 1878.
Okmulgee County was formed on July 16, 1907, from Muskogee land, with a population of 14,362. County government offices were located in the Creek Council House until 1916, when the present Okmulgee County Courthouse was built. The former council building was then repurposed. The county's population was 21,115 in 1910 and increased to a high of 56,558 by 1930.
Railroads came to the area in 1900, when the St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway or Frisco) built a line from Sapulpa, Oklahoma via Okmulgee to a place near the Red River. The Shawnee, Oklahoma and Missouri Coal and Railway (later also acquired by the Frisco) built a line from Muskogee to Okmulgee in 1902–03. It was abandoned in 1973. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (purchased by the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway in 1919) ran through Dewar, Oklahoma beginning in 1909, and the Okmulgee Northern Railway operated between Okmulgee and Deep Fork from 1916 to 1964.
In 1918, the boundary between Okmulgee County and McIntosh County was realigned, moving the towns of Grayson and Hoffman from McIntosh into Okmulgee County.
The Creek Council House still stands today. While ownership of the building changed over the years, the City of Okmulgee in November 2010 sold the building back to the tribe for $3.2 million. The building currently houses the Creek Council House Museum, with artifacts and exhibits about the history of the Muscogee tribe and the arts and crafts of other Native American tribes.