Edmond, Oklahoma

From Oklahoma

Edmond is a rapidly growing suburban city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma in the central part of the state. It is the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma and is part of the Greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

The city limits are located on the northern border of Oklahoma City. Two major highways connect Edmond to downtown Oklahoma City; The Broadway Extension (US-77), which runs though the center of the city, and I-35, which runs along the eastern side. As of July 2005, the city had 74,881 residents.

[edit] Geography

File:OKMap-doton-Edmond.PNG

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 227.8 km² (87.9 mi²). 220.5 km² (85.1 mi²) of it is land and 7.3 km² (2.8 mi²) of it (3.19%) is water.

[edit] Awards/image

"Relocate America" recently named it America's 3rd best city to live in.
"Universal Publications of New York" recently named it "America's best small town".
The city is known for taking great pride in its "Edmond, America" image.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 68,315 people, 25,256 households, and 18,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 309.8/km² (802.4/mi²). There were 26,380 housing units at an average density of 119.6/km² (309.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.58% White, 4.04% African American, 2.27% Native American, 3.26% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 2.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.75% of the population.

There were 25,256 households out of which 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $54,556, and the median income for a family was $65,230. Males had a median income of $46,833 versus $28,231 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,517. About 4.4% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous citizens

Edmond is the hometown of Shannon Miller, who won five medals in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics for the United States in women's gymnastics.

Pro wrestling superstar Charlie Haas graduated from Edmond Memorial High School in 1991.

Pro BMX rider, Mat Hoffman, was born and raised in Edmond and has broken many world records on Edmond soil including the highest BMX vertical jump.

Several stars of the PGA professional golf call Edmond home, as does the well-known Oak Tree Golf Club. Among Edmond's top golfers are Bob Tway, Scott Verplank, David Edwards and Seniors Golf legend Dr. Gil Morgan.

Shameless Pollock "Snake" has resided there since 2004

Former FEMA Director and Bush appointee Michael Brown worked as an intern in the city's Emergency Management Department while receiving a B.A. in public administration/political science from Central State University (now the University of Central Oklahoma), in Edmond.

Edmond has spawned many in the music industry including Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor of the pop rock group The All-American Rejects, pop rock producer, Tom Mitchell, and music industy artist/illustrator, Jason McManus and one-hit wonder Mikaila.

Edmond is also home to Christian author and LifeChurch.tv pastor, Craig Groeschel.

[edit] History

Being the highest point along the Santa Fe rail line in Oklahoma Territory, Edmond was originally named "Summit" and was a watering and sanding point for the railroad in the 1880s. The town was given its current name (after an engineer on the railroad) by the Santa Fe railroad headquarters in Topeka after the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. Though most of the remnants of the old railroad infrastructure are gone, the Santa Fe, now BNSF, line still runs through the same course.

[edit] Notable Events

Edmond was the site of the post office massacre on August 20, 1986, in which fourteen people were killed and six wounded by Patrick Sherrill, an ex- postman who then committed suicide. This event was the second in a string of postal employee murder-suicides throughout the U.S. that led to the term "going postal". A memorial to the victims of that tragic event currently stands outside of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Edmond.

Controversy erupted in 1996 when MetroChurch, a non-denominational church in east Edmond, began planning for the erection of a 163 foot cross adjacent to Interstate 35, the main thoroughfare of the town. The story attracted both local and national press coverage. City zoning disputes were eventually resolved and the structure was completed in 1998. In 2001, Metro Church merged with and became LifeChurch.tv.

The city was also the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case in which a Christian cross was depicted on the city seal, raising issues concerning the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In May of 1996, the Supreme Court let stand a Federal Appeals Court ruling ordering the city to remove the cross from the seal. A replacement icon has yet to be agreed upon, resulting in the curiously vacant spot on the city's seal.

Template:Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area