Mooreland

History

The Southern Kansas Railway, later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, constructed a line in 1886/1887 and then furnished an accessible shipping point for the region. After the opening of Cherokee Outlet in 1893, homesteaders made efforts that resulted in the town of Mooreland. Prosperous area resident J. H. Dail joined F. J. Knittel, John J. Bouquot, John E. Moseley, and William M. Holmes in founding the Mooreland Town Company. They and others realized the agricultural potential of the area and the possibility of immense crop production. Mooreland Town Company founded the town of 'Dail City, named for its chief proprietor, in 1901. The company purchased land from the Knittel homestead and the W. F. Jones homestead for the platting of the original town site. Others helpful in development of Mooreland included John T. Davis, C. L. Lambert, J. C. Krouth, and John Arnold. Residents quickly petitioned the federal government for a post office. Because of already another "Dail" in Oklahoma Territory, the government denied the request. Residents then selected the name "Moreland." An error occurred when an extra "o" inadvertently crept into the name on the official plat and registration. In March 1902, the government established the first Mooreland post office with F. M. Jones as first appointed postmaster. Mooreland Leader newspaper began publishing in 1903 and continues today. The economy always depended on farming, primarily wheat and grain. An agricultural service center within a few years of its founding, the community supported four stores, two liveries, three grain elevators, a feed mill, saloons, restaurants, hotels, and medical personnel. A minor oil boom occurred around the time of World War I. Mooreland began smaller than Woodward, Curtis, and…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  447
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  389
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  374
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  348
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  334
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  325
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  320
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  276