Ryan

History

The incorporated community of Ryan is located in southwestern Jefferson County. It is situated some north of the Red River at the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 32, south of Waurika and south by southwest of Oklahoma City. It was named in honor of rancher Stephen W. Ryan, an Arkansas native who settled near present-day Ryan in 1875. As a result of his marriage to a Chickasaw woman, Ryan acquired vast acreage in present Jefferson County, then a part of Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. When the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway constructed a station on Ryan's land in 1892, he platted the site for the town that now bears his name. A post office had been established in that locality in June 1890, and Ryan's home, built circa 1877, was the community's first residence. Ryan was named the seat of Jefferson County by delegates to the 1906 Constitutional Convention. It lost that title in February 1912, when county voters chose Waurika to be the county seat. Ryan developed as an agricultural and ranching community. Local ranchers raised cattle and hogs, and farmers produced cotton, corn, and wheat. The fruit industry was a prosperous enterprise, as pears, peaches, apples, plums, and strawberries were grown in abundance. Fire nearly destroyed Ryan in December 1895, but the residents rebuilt. Ryan had 1,115 residents in 1907. By 1908, it had thirty businesses, including two banks, a hotel, a cotton gin, two lumberyards, a flour mill, and a cottonseed oil mill. By 1930 the townspeople enjoyed of paved roads, two schools, three hundred telephone connections, and a bus line. The town's population peaked at 1,379 in 1920 and then declined. The 1940 and 1950 censuses reported 1,115 and 1,019, respectively. Numbers dropped to 978 in…

Geography

Ryan is north of the Red River, south of Waurika and south-southwest of Oklahoma City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

  Tyrannus forficatus (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  73
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  69
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  62
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  55
• Dickcissel

  Spiza americana (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  52
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  49
• Eastern Meadowlark

  Sturnella magna (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46

Largest nearby schools

• RYAN ES
  Elementary · Ryan · 158 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• RYAN HS
  High · Ryan · 68 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• TERRAL PUBLIC SCHOOL
  Elementary · Terral · 32 students · 6.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.54 — 2026-09-27
  4 km NNE of Tatums, Oklahoma
• M 2.72 — 2026-05-15
  4 km SE of Ratliff City, Oklahoma
• M 2.91 — 2026-03-22
  5 km SE of Ratliff City, Oklahoma
• M 3.27 — 2026-03-01
  7 km SE of Ratliff City, Oklahoma
• M 2.53 — 2026-02-28
  6 km SE of Ratliff City, Oklahoma
• M 2.67 — 2026-02-26
  7 km SE of Ratliff City, Oklahoma