Pawnee

Formed January 1, 1893 (19^th county)

Pawnee County (15,551), Pawnee (1,936), Cleveland (3,204)

The 1932 Art Deco courthouse of Pawnee County sits majestically at Harrison and Fifth streets.  Harrison is United States Highway 64 coming through the city.  Oklahoma State Highway 18 splits from United States Highway 64 two blocks east of the location.  Smith and Senter designed this tan brick and masonry building.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The 1900 courthouse was the original one for the county since its founding on January 1, 1893 and Pawnee has always been the county seat.  The county was the 19^th county originally designated County Q.  The county and city were named for the Native American tribe. 

Pawnee County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Thirty-one District Court Judges serve Pawnee and Tulsa counties and a court clerk serves Pawnee County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the north central part of the state, west of Tulsa, Oklahoma and north of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The Arkansas River forms the northern border.  The county center is 14.6 miles East-Southeast of Pawnee nearer Hallett.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Osage, Tulsa, Creek, Payne, and Noble counties. 

The area of the county is 570 square miles.  It is 66 out of 77 in the state.  It ranks 43 out of 77 in population in the state.  It has a density of 27.3 persons per square mile making it 39 out of 77 in the state.  Pawnee County has 42.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 64 cuts across from Osage County, on the east, to Noble County, on the west.  United States Highway 412 enters with United States Highway 64 from Osage County, splits, and exits into Payne County to the southwest.  The county is shaped like a comb of a rooster.  Pawnee is in the western half of the county.  Cleveland is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Pawnee is the county seat and Cleveland is the largest city.  Pawnee is 12.5% of the county population while Cleveland is 20.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area.