Copan

History

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") built a station at this site in 1899, which it named Copan, after the city of Copán, Honduras. However, when a post office was established here in 1900, it was designated as Lawton. The settlement was renamed Weldon in 1901, but reverted to Copan in 1904. It was incorporated under that name in Indian Territory in 1906. The Copan school district was founded in 1906, as well. By 1907, the town had 305 residents. The blossoming oil industry in Washington County spurred the growth of Copan. The Prairie Oil and Gas Company built Oklahoma's first trunk pipeline, which ran from Bartlesville, Oklahoma to Humboldt, Kansas in 1904. It also included an oil storage terminal near Copan with 107 tanks, designed to hold 35,000 barrels of crude oil. The Copan oil field was discovered in 1907, and had nearly 2,200 producing wells by 1915. The town managed to survive and recover from major fires in 1906, 1911 and 1912. It enjoyed a spurt of growth after the creation of nearby Lake Hulah in 1951, and Lake Copan in 1983. Population reached a high of 960 in 1980, largely because the lakes increased tourism. The town economy is now largely based on travel and recreation.

Geography

Copan is north of Bartlesville on U.S. Highway 75. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• DEWEY ES
  Elementary · Dewey · 569 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• WOODROW WILSON ES
  Elementary · Bartlesville · 560 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• DEWEY HS
  High · Dewey · 394 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• DEWEY MS
  Middle · Dewey · 269 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• COPAN ES
  Elementary · Copan · 156 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• COPAN HS
  High · Copan · 69 students · 23:1 ratio