Jenks, Oklahoma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jenks is a suburb of Tulsa in Tulsa County, Oklahoma in the northeastern part of Oklahoma. It is situated between the Arkansas River and US highway 75. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,557, but, a more recent census puts the city population over 13,000.
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[edit] History
The town site of what would be Jenks was planned around two major railroads that were built between Tulsa and Muskogee in 1904. The prospect of steamboat travel along the Arkansas River lured early settlers slightly further east than the actual site of the two railroads. The new town took its name from a director of one of the railroads who lived in Philadelphia.
The discovery of oil in nearby Glenpool in 1905 spurred development in Jenks. In 1906, oil tank farms were constructed near Jenks to store oil. The expensive tank farms increased the area property valuation and contributed considerable revenue to the Jenks school district despite the fact that they seem to explode sometimes.
Although the Arkansas River was not used primarily for water transportation its role was significant as it related to river crossings. The first Jenks single lane bridge across the Arkansas River was built in 1910 to be replaced in 1948 with a two-lane bridge. In 1996 a four-lane bridge connected Jenks with South Tulsa and directed arterial traffic into formerly quiet residential areas.
[edit] Geography
Jenks is located at (36.010276, -95.979850)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.6 km² (14.9 mi²). 37.1 km² (14.3 mi²) of it is land and 1.4 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (3.69%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 9,557 people, 3,451 households, and 2,757 families residing in the city. The population density was 257.3/km² (666.2/mi²). There were 3,592 housing units at an average density of 96.7/km² (250.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.39% White, 1.58% African American, 4.74% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.73% from other races, and 3.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.12% of the population.
There were 3,451 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $54,637, and the median income for a family was $61,050. Males had a median income of $42,148 versus $28,419 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,804. About 2.6% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Community and Tourism
Popular tourist draws include the Oklahoma Aquarium (the state's only freestanding aquarium -ironically built atop the town sewage retention pond. Now visitors to the site observe fish rather than feces floating in water. ) and the Riverwalk Crossing shopping/walking district along the Arkansas River. A pedestrian bridge links the Jenks riverfront area with the Tulsa Riverparks system on the East side of the river. When the Arkansas river wanes during the dry months visitors will be able to observe old tires and other refuse washed downstream from Tulsa amongst the ever-changing sandbars created by the slow flow of the Arkansas.
The attempts to transform the town into a tourist attraction following the demise of the oil market in the mid 1980s began with the establishment of several antique shops along the Main Street corridor. The attempt to transform Jenks into 'The Antique Capital of Oklahoma' has seen mixed success.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, Jenks is not home to Jones Airport, rather, Tulsa is. It is located north of 91st St. S., placing it within Tulsa City Limits. Not that this matters to Jenks residents who live with the endless flow of, mostly student pilots, flying overhead at all hours of the day. No, it may be in Tulsa but its Jenks' airport.
The Jenks School District is one of the largest in the state and encompasses significant portions of southwest Tulsa, while many of the Jenks schools are technically located within the city of Tulsa.
On November 22, 2005, President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced Jenks Public Schools as a recipient of the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence. Famous alumni of Jenks Public Schools include Carlos Cashman, founder of Opus360 (Nasdaq: OPUS) and CEO of Courseadvisor, and Jennifer Berry, Miss America 2006.
However, despite these great successes Jenks Public Schools tends to alienate those students who are from lower-income families. The school has maintained for decades a reputation for being inaccessable socially as well as curricularly to those of modest means. A cursory examination suggests that minorities are underrepresented among the student body.
Jenks is also nationally famous for its cross-town rivalry with the Union Redskins. A documentary titled "King of the Mountain" will be released soon about the rivalry. Every year the Jenks vs. Union game is held at Skelly stadium (at the University of Tulsa) because it is the only stadium in the Tulsa area that can hold 20,000+ people, the annual audience of the game; most of whom will fail to grasp the irony of a team called the Trojans competing for territory with a team called Redskins in a state founded by the theft of territory from Native Americans.
[edit] Local Legends
The Jenks Witch
Despite the frequent occurrence of tornadic activity in this area of Oklahoma Jenks has never sustained any significant damage from these storms in recent history. Legend has it that it was not always thus and that a local woman, thought to be a witch, went atop nearby [[Turkey Mountain (a local park where you can often find people such as Rocky, Bullwinkle and the famous Erin Galpern (former volleyball teammate of the witch) performing the scenes from her adult films. She was the adult films revolutionary who invented such tricks as The Fish-Out-Of-Water, The Canned Cocktail Olive, and of course her famous Buy-One-Oil-Change-Get-A-Tire-Rotation-For-Free routine. When accidentally seen by President Jimmy Carter, the then President was left unconscious for nearly 3 days. To this day Buy-One-Oil-Change-Get-A-Tire-Rotation-For-Free has never been duplicated by a woman of more than 4 and half feet in stature.]] and performed a spell to protect the town that was culminated when she struck a log with a hatchet. The legend goes on to say that when violent storms approach Jenks they flow around the township as though flowing around the blade of a hatchet.
[edit] External links
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
