Dustin

History

The town was called Watsonville when its community first formed in the late 19th century. When the post office opened there on April 18, 1898, it was officially named Watsonville. The original site was south of the North Canadian River in the area then known as the Creek Nation in Indian Territory. The post office site was moved north of the present site, and its name changed to Spokogee, on June 27, 1902, though the same person, Marion J. Butler, remained as postmaster. After the Fort Smith and Western Railroad built its Fort Smith–Guthrie line through the area in 1903, the town and post office were both officially changed to Dustin on May 9, 1904. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (MO&G), built a north–south line through Dustin in 1905. Dustin became a trading and commercial center for the surrounding agricultural area. Early businesses included two banks, two drug stores, three doctors, and two hardware stores. Although a school was among the first buildings constructed, it burned down before the school year began. It was soon replaced and two male teachers were hired. The MO&G maintained a railroad round house for working on its locomotives. Before the end of the first decade, Dustin had added four barbershops, a third barbershop, a third drug store, a fourth doctor, a third bank, a livery stable, two hotels, two cotton gins, an ice plant/bottling plant, and a wagon factory. Several newspapers, including the Dustin Dispatch, the Dustin News, and the Dustonian, informed the citizens in the early decades of the twentieth century. Dustin built its first water supply system in 1912. In the 1930s, the community built Lake Dustin, a community-owned spring-fed reservoir. In 2012, Dustin began constructing a new municipal water supply system in 2003. The 1910…

Geography

Dustin is located in northeastern Hughes County. Oklahoma State Highway 9 passes through the center of town, leading east to the Indian Nation Turnpike and west to Wetumka. Oklahoma State Highway 84 departs OK-9 in the center of Dustin, leading north and west to Weleetka. Fish Creek flows through the southeast corner of the town, running northeast to the North Canadian River. According to the United States Census Bureau, Dustin has a total area of , of which , or 1.12%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Graham-Dustin Elementary
  Elementary · DUSTIN · 96 students · 24:1 ratio
• Graham-Dustin High School
  High · DUSTIN · 47 students · 15.7:1 ratio