Grand is a ghost town in Ellis County, Oklahoma, United States. It served as the county seat of Day County and then of Ellis County until the seat moved to Arnett in 1908.
History
Today's community of Grand was the one-time county seat of Ellis County, Oklahoma. First established as Ioland to be the county seat of "E" County (later Day County). When the Cheyenne Arapaho reserve was opened, it was moved across the Canadian River and renamed Grand. According to George Shirk, its namesake was Grandville Alcorn, the son of Robert Alcorn, county judge.[1]
When Day County was extinguished at statehood, Grand found itself in Ellis County, and was the county seat until August 26, 1908. The Ellis County courthouse moved to Arnett. The Grand post office existed from November 4, 1892, until September 30, 1943.[1] Only the footings of the courthouse and the vault that once held the Day county records remain visible at the site.
Grand contained a cemetery and a post office; the cemetery is located at 36°00′47″N 99°49′05″W / 36.01305°N 99.81801°W.[2][3]
The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as the Grand Town Site.[4][5]
Notable people
Grand was the birthplace of western musician Spade Cooley in 1910.[6]
See also
External links
- http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v028/v028p399.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine C. A. Squire, "Old Grand, GhostTown," Chronicles of Oklahoma." Accessed July 2, 2015.
References
- ^ a b Shirk, George H. Oklahoma Place Names. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8061-2028-2 Accessed March 1, 2020.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grand Cemetery
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grand Post Office (historical)
- ^ Latham, K. "Exploring Oklahoma History / Grand". Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ "Day County - The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ "Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (1910-1969)". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
- Wright, Muriel H., George H. Shirk, Kenny A. Franks. Mark of Heritage. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 1976.
- Wright, Muriel H. "Old Day County Oklahoma Territory" Archived 2007-02-04 at the Wayback Machine. Chronicles of Oklahoma 13:2 (June 1935) 219. (accessed February 15, 2007)
