Bowlegs, Oklahoma
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Seminole South census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74868. The Survey maps it on the Seminole quadrangle. 357 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 938 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBowlegs fell from 405 to 357 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 405 | |
| 2020 | 357 | -48 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1896 USGS Seminole and Prague quadrangle1:125000
- 1954 USGS Oklahoma City quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Oklahoma City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Oklahoma City quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Seminole quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Shawnee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
145 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 145 fires within 5 miles of Bowlegs between 1998 and 2020, burning about 10,637 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 29 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 63 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 29 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Wewoka Agency | NARCOMY |
| 27 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Wewoka Agency | PEPSI |
| 25 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.8 acres | Wewoka Agency | LILLY DAVIS |
| 16 September 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4.0 acres | Wewoka Agency | BAYLOR |
| 16 September 2017 | Fireworks | 1.0 acres | Wewoka Agency | MEKUSUKEY |
| 15 September 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Wewoka Agency | HARJOCHEE |
| 12 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.8 acres | Wewoka Agency | NOONER |
| 9 August 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 acres | Wewoka Agency | FINGER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Bowlegs: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H and W Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bowlegs in 17 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 9 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowlegs | $5,000 | An area 500 yards long sustained damage to numerous trees. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | Relayed by emergency management. |
| September 2023 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | Image relayed via social media. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Bowlegs | - | Water was coming over the county road which was beginning to wash out. |
| March 2015 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | No damage reported. |
| March 2015 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | No damage reported. |
| March 2015 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | No damage reported. |
| March 2015 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | No damage reported. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Bowlegs | - | County Road EW129 was closed due to high water a half of a mile east of HWY 59. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowlegs | - | Wind gust was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| April 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Bowlegs | - | This very brief tornado lasted for less than 30 seconds and was observed by a storm chaser. There is no known damage. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowlegs | - | Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowlegs | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | no account filed |
| March 2002 | Hail | Bowlegs | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowlegs | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Bowlegs | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1828017 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1090427. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





