Gage

History

Located in the central part of Ellis County on SH-46, thirteen miles north of the county seat, Arnett, and on SH-15, twenty-one miles southwest of Woodward, Gage developed primarily because of transportation access. The military road from Fort Supply to Fort Elliott/Mobeetie, Texas, passed near the future town, and two miles to the northwest a stage stop existed at the confluence of Little Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek. In 1887 the Southern Kansas Railway (later part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) had constructed a line across northwestern Oklahoma from Kansas to the Texas Panhandle. A station called Gage, named for Chicago railroad financier Lyman J. Gage, was established in July near Wolf Creek. Once the domain of various Plains Indian groups, by that time this region had become part of the Cherokee Outlet, opened to settlement by a land run in September 1893. After that, Woodward County included the site of future Gage. A year after the run several settlers, including John Barr and Frederick D. Webster, took up land near the railroad stop. A post office was designated in February 1895, with Webster as postmaster. By 1898 the community was big enough to support a half dozen stores, a hotel, and a sawmill. In 1901 activity surrounding the opening of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache lands, to the south, attracted new people to the town and farmers to purchase land nearby. The town's residents voted to incorporate a six-block area in May 1904. Eighteen months later, anti-liquor campaigner and Guthrie resident Carrie Nation, on one of her lecture tours through Oklahoma Territory, made a brief visit to Gage's saloons and met a cold reception. In 1907, when Ellis County was created, taking in this part of Woodward County, Gage's 1907 population stood at 755 and in…

Geography

Gage is located on the southern bank of Wolf Creek, an intermittent spring-fed tributary of the Beaver River (also known as the North Canadian River). Wolf Creek extends through Ochiltree and Lipscomb counties of the Texas Panhandle and through Ellis and Woodward counties in Oklahoma. The stream generally runs from the southwest to the northeast and thereby defines the primary orientation of the BNSF Railway and Oklahoma State Highway 15, both of which run through Gage and stretch from Shattuck to Woodward. Gage is home to Artesian Beach Park (locally known as Gage Beach) (). This park contains a clear, spring-fed or artesian lake approximately the size of five football fields and it hosts what is claimed to be Oklahoma's largest outdoor swimming pool. The natural swimming area has cement sides like a pool and a sandy, lake-like bottom. The water depth ranges from and the natural pool is home to a few fish. When an oil well drilled on the C. J. Minton farm produced only artesian water, the landowner created a swimming and boating area for the public. The city acquired Gage Beach in 1939 and constructed a bathhouse and boat dock and considerable work was done in 2012 to rebuild the banks of Gage Beach. There was once a motel on the springs and travelers came from afar to relax and swim in the spring waters. The water is not drinkable nor is it suitable for irrigation due to high mineral content. More recently, the output of the spring has possibly increased and currently the spring-fed lake is fuller than it has been in recent years. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Gage was on July 19, 2022, while the coldest temperature recorded was…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• SHATTUCK ES
  Elementary · Shattuck · 245 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• FARGO ES
  Elementary · Fargo · 149 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• SHATTUCK HS
  High · Shattuck · 112 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• FARGO HS
  High · Fargo · 73 students · 12.2:1 ratio