Beckham

Formed November 16, 1907 (30^th county)

Beckham County (22,411), Sayre (4,805), Elk City (11,566)

The domed Neo-Classical and Second Renaissance courthouse, built in 1911, sits in what can be described as a square.  After the county was organized on November 16, 1907, this is the only courthouse in the county thus Sayre is the only county seat.  Beckham County was carved from parts of Greer and Roger Mills counties as the 30^th county.  The building sits at 3^rd Street and Main (Oklahoma State Highway 152) two blocks east of United States Highway 283.  The architects for this red brick building were Layton, Smith and Hawk.  Beckham County was named for Kentucky Governor John C. W. Beckham.  Sayre derives its name from Robert H. Sayre, a stockholder in the railroad when the city was founded. 

Beckham County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Seven District Court Judges serve Beckham, Custer, Ellis, Roger Mills and Washita counties and a court clerk serves Beckham County (judicial.)  The county is situated in southwest Oklahoma on the border with the Texas panhandle.  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is north and east and Amarillo, Texas is west.  The county center is 3.9 miles Northeast of Sayre.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Roger Mills, Custer, Washita, Kiowa, Greer, and Harmon counties and Texas. 

The area of the county is 902 square miles.  It is 31 out of 77 in the state.  It ranks 38 out of 77 in population in the state.  It has a density of 24.8 persons per square mile making it 40 out of 77 in the state.  Beckham County has 78.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 enters from Washita County on the northeast and exits west into Texas.  United States Highway 283 comes from the north, Roger Mills County, and goes to the south, Greer County.  The county is a rectangle with an added “chimney” on the northeast corner and a similar “leg” on the southwest corner.  The Sweetwater River joins the North Fork of the Red River in the western part of the county.  They exit the county on the southeast.  Sayre is near the center of the county.  Elk City is located in the northeast quarter of the county.  Sayre is the county seat and Elk City is the largest city.  Sayre is 21.4% of the county population while Elk City is 51.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced BEK-HAM.  The county seat is pronounced SAE-UR.  This county is in the Elk City Micropolitan Statistical Area.