Shady Point, Oklahoma

Shady Point, Oklahoma
Town
Location of Shady Point, Oklahoma
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Le Flore
Area
• Total	2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
• Land	2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	456 ft (139 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,026
• Density	410.4/sq mi (155.5/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	74956
Area code(s)	539/918
FIPS code	40-66550
GNIS feature ID	1097947

Shady Point is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,026 at the 2010 census, a 21.0 percent increase from 848 at the 2000 census.

History

According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the community now known as Shady Point was called Harrison when a post office was established in 1891. In 1894, the settlement moved eastward to the proposed route of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad, which built a track through Indian Territory in 1895-96. In 1900, the Kansas City Southern Railway bought out the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad. The population was estimated at 200 In 1901. In the same year, the Poteau Valley Railroad built tracks from Shady Point to the mines at Sutter (which was renamed Calhoun in 1914), bringing prosperity to Shady Point as a coal shipping point.

Agriculture became the basis for Shady Point's economy during the Great Depression. The Evans Coal Company closed its deep-shaft coal mine in 1980, the same year the town incorporated. The population then was 235. Applied Energy Services built a power plant in 1991 that burned half of the coal produced in Oklahoma by the end o the Twentieth Century.

Geography

Shady Point is located at (35.128571, -94.659726). It is 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Poteau.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1980	235		—
1990	597		154.0%
2000	848		42.0%
2010	1,026		21.0%
Est. 2014	1,004		−2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 848 people, 306 households, and 241 families residing in the town. The population density was 332.8 people per square mile (128.4/km²). There were 344 housing units at an average density of 135.0 per square mile (52.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 86.56% White, 8.96% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.47% from other races, and 3.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.59% of the population.

There were 306 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,453, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $23,906 versus $18,036 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,091. About 19.7% of families and 23.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.2% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over.