page_title: Norman, Oklahoma
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Norman, Oklahoma / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Welcome to Norman, OK. Established 1889.
context_page_description: Norman is a city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma located 20 miles south of downtown Oklahoma City. As the county seat of Cleveland County and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, its population was 110,925 at the 2010 census. Norman's estimated population of 124,880 in 2019 makes it the third-largest city in Oklahoma.
  Norman was settled during the Land Run of 1889, which opened the former Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory to American pioneer settlement. The city was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area's initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. Economically the city has prominent higher education and related research industries, as it is home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, with nearly 32,000 students enrolled. The university is well known for its sporting events by teams under the banner of the nickname "Sooners", with over 85,000 people routinely attending football games. The university is home to several museums, including the Fred Jones Jr.
context_section_description: The Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Prior to the American Civil War the United States government began relocating the Five Civilized Tribes – the five Native American tribes that the United States officially recognized via treaty – to Oklahoma. Treaties of 1832 and 1833 assigned the area known today as Norman to the Creek Nation.
  Following the Civil War, the Creeks were accused of aiding the Confederacy; as a result they ceded the region back to the United States in 1866. In the early 1870s, the federal government undertook a survey of these unassigned lands. Abner Ernest Norman, a 23-year-old surveyor from Kentucky, was hired to oversee part of this project. Norman's work crew set up camp near what is today the corner of Classen and Lindsey streets; it was there that the men, perhaps jokingly, carved a sign on an elm tree that read "Norman's Camp", in honor of their young boss. In 1887, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway began service to the area, which was later opened to settlement as part of the Land Run of 1889; early settlers decided to keep the name "Norman".
  On April 22, 1889, the Land Run saw the founding of Norman, with at least 150 residents spending the night in makeshift campsites; by the next morning a downtown was already being constructed. Almost immediately two prominent Norman businessmen, former Purcell railroad freight agent Delbert Larsh and railroad station chief cashier Thomas Waggoner, began lobbying for the territorial government to locate its first university in Norman. The two were interested in growing the city and had reasoned that, rather than try to influence legislatures to locate the heavily contested territory capital in Norman, it made sense to attempt to secure the state's first university instead (a move that would be far less controversial). On December 19, 1890, Larsh and Waggoner were successful with the passage of Council Bill 114, establishing the University of Oklahoma in Norman approximately 18 years before Oklahoma statehood.
  The City of Norman was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891.
  By the 1890s, Norman had become a sundown town. African Americans were not allowed to live within the city limits or stay overnight until the early 1960s.
  The city has continued to grow throughout the decades. By 1902 the downtown district contained two banks, two hotels, a flour mill, and other businesses; by 1913 there were over 3,700 residents living in Norman when the Oklahoma Railway Company decided to extend its interurban streetcar running from Oklahoma City to Moore into Norman, spurring additional population growth. The rail lines eventually transitioned to freight during the 1940s as the United States Numbered Highway system developed. The city population reached 11,429 in 1940.
  With the completion of Interstate 35 in June 1959, Norman found its role as a bedroom community to Oklahoma City increasing rapidly; in 1960 Norman's population was 33,412 but by the end of the decade had grown to 52,117. Throughout the 1960s Norman's land mass increased by 174 square miles (450 km²) by annexing surrounding areas. The city's growth trends have continued early in the 21st century, with the population reaching 95,694 in 2000 and 110,925 in 2010.
caption: Welcome marker on Main Street
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