Payne

Formed May 22, 1890 (9^th county)

Payne County (81,649), Stillwater (48,393)                

The red brick appearance of the Neo-Classical courthouse, built in 1917, gives it a governmental look.  After the county was organized on May 22, 1890, a courthouse was built in 1895 in Stillwater, the only county seat.  The building was enlarged in 1965 and an Annex was added in 2009.  Veterans are honored on the grounds.  Payne County was carved from parts of the Creek Nation as the 9^th county.  The building sits west of United States Highway 177 on Husband and 6^th (Oklahoma State Highway 51.)  The architects for the building were Hair, Tonini, and Bramblet.  Payne was named for the originator of an expedition heading for this part of Oklahoma, David L. Payne, who died in route.  Stillwater derives its name from the creek near the site of the city. 

Payne County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an assessor, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five District Court Judges serve Payne and Logan counties and a court clerk serves Payne County (judicial.)  The county is situated in north central Oklahoma north of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The county center is 4.8 miles Southeast of Stillwater.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pawnee, Creek, Lincoln, Logan, and Noble counties. 

The area of the county is 686 square miles.  It is 53 out of 77 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 77 in population in the state.  It has a density of 119.0 persons per square mile making it 8 out of 77 in the state.  Payne County has 75.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 comes from the north, Noble County, and goes to the south, Logan County.  United States Highway 177 goes north to south, Noble County to Lincoln County.  United States Highway 412 crosses the extreme northern part of the county from Pawnee County into Noble County.  The county is a rectangle with an added box on the north.  The Cimarron River cuts west to east through the county.  Stillwater is slightly north and west of center.  Stillwater is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 59.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Stillwater Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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