Woodward County | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 36°25′N 99°16′W / 36.42°N 99.26°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oklahoma |
Founded | 1876 |
Seat | Woodward |
Largest city | Woodward |
Area | |
• Total | 1,246 sq mi (3,230 km2) |
• Land | 1,242 sq mi (3,220 km2) |
• Water | 3.7 sq mi (10 km2) 0.3% |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 20,470 |
• Density | 16/sq mi (6.3/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
Congressional district | 3rd |
Website | woodwardcounty |
Woodward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,470.[1] Its county seat is Woodward.[2]
Woodward County comprises the Woodward, OK micropolitan statistical area.
Woodward County was originally known as "N" County and was composed of present-day Woodward County and portions of Harper, Ellis, and Woods County. Before its division at statehood, Woodward County, then 60 miles square, was the westernmost county of the Cherokee Outlet and adjoined Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle on the west and Kansas on the north. Political pressure applied by William H. Murray during Oklahoma's Constitutional Convention resulted in the reduction of the size of Woodward County to its present boundaries. It is unknown exactly whom the county (and the town) is named after, but the two leading candidates are Brinton W. Woodward, a Santa Fe railway director,[3] or Richard Woodward, a buffalo hunter.