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Vinita, Oklahoma

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Vinita East census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74301. It stands on Pawpaw Creek. The Survey maps it on the Vinita quadrangle. 5,193 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 699 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Vinita within Craig County

On record in Vinita

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 9 records

Population over time

2 figures

Vinita fell from 5,743 to 5,193 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.

YearPeople Change
20105,743
20205,193-550 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

6 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Vinita between 2010 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 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
Arson/incendiarism4
Debris and open burning1
Natural1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
14 June 2012Debris and open burning5.0 acresOklahoma Division of Forestry30244
1 April 2012Arson/incendiarism80 acresOklahoma Division of Forestry30217
26 March 2020Arson/incendiarism21 acresCherokee Nation TribeBUFFINGTON
19 February 2010Naturalunder an acreCherokee Nation TribeKEYSTONE
9 October 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCherokee Nation TribeBRUSHCOAT
10 October 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCherokee Nation TribeRED ASPHALT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Craig County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Vinita: 7 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unknown Limestone PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown Sandstone PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown Shale PitClayPast Producer
Unknown Shale PitClayPast Producer
Unknown Shale PitClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Craig County

Storms near this place

60 of 156 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vinita in 156 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 71 hail, 66 thunderstorm wind, 13 flash flood, 3 lightning. The reports record 4 injuries. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2002Thunderstorm WindVinita4 hurt, $30,000A collapsing thunderstorms produced microburst winds estimated at 70 miles an hour. These winds blew down several trees and destroyed a trailer house. The four people inside the trailer house were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.
May 1999Flash FloodVinita$4,000,000An estimated 5 to 8 inches of rain in a short time caused Big Cabin Creek on the west side of Vinita and Bull Creek on the east side of Vinita to overflow their banks and enter 54 homes. Water was five feet deep in some homes. 30 homes were evacuated. The hardest-hit areas were located along North Second to North Fourth Streets, near Sequoyah and Tahlequah. According to the police chief, all of the homes around North Second Street were devastated. Later in the evening, water from Bull Creek drained into Big Cabin Creek, flooding out several homes in the Westwood area. Long-time residents say that the last time Bull Creek flooded any homes was in 1961, though they said the flooding this time was much more serious. Property damage was estimated at $4 million. Swift-moving floodwater from Bull Creek swept a pickup truck off of Eastern State Road.All four lanes of US Hwy 60 were closed by high water 1/2 mile west of Vinita. There were also reports of flooding around Welch.
June 2010LightningVinita$500,000Lightning ignited a large fire at the Paint and Home Decorative Center of the TH Rogers Lumber Company in Vinita, destroying the building and all of its contents. The structure was approximately 60x200 feet and contained laminate flooring, rolls of carpet, cans of paint, and decorative doors.
May 2000Flash FloodVinita$150,000Heavy rains caused flooding on the eastern side of Vinita. Water up to four inches deep entered up to fifteen houses. Boats were used in the streets to rescue families.
May 2020HailVinita$75,000Hail larger than golf ball size damaged vehicles, homes, and businesses.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindVinita$63,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down numerous trees and did some damage to a few structures. One home which was under construction collapsed and tin roofs were blown off two buildings at a lumber yard. Rain damaged contents of the buildings.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindVinita$58,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 miles an hour caused considerable damage in Vinita. A mobile home was pushed off its foundation and several metal garages were damaged. Trees were also blown down. A few of the trees fell on homes causing roof and other structural damage.
December 1999HailVinita$50,000Qarter to half dollar size hail fell in Vinita.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindVinita$50,000no account filed
April 2026HailVinita$30,000Golf ball size hail damaged homes and vehicles.
August 2020HailVinita$25,000Golf ball size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
August 2020HailVinita$25,000Baseball size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
April 2009Tornado (EF0)Vinita$25,000A tornado tore the roof off of a mobile home, blew down a small billboard, damaged the roofs of several barns and outbuildings, and blew down power poles. Maximum winds based on the damage were estimated to be near 75 mph.
May 2017HailVinita$25,000no account filed
October 2017Thunderstorm WindVinita$20,000Strong thunderstorm wind destroyed outbuildings and uprooted trees.
May 2020HailVinita$15,000Ping pong ball size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
September 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$15,000The roof was blown off of a business in Vinita, and many trees and power lines were blown down.
May 2015HailVinita$15,000no account filed
August 2006LightningVinita$10,000Lightning struck a house causing a fire.
April 2015HailVinita$10,000no account filed
May 2019Tornado (EF0)Vinita$5,000This tornado was reported by a trained storm spotter. The tornado snapped large tree limbs and blew down power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 80 to 85 mph.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindVinita$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a barn.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindVinita$5,000Thunderstorm winds overturned a semi on the Will Rogers turnpike.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindVinita$5,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down trees and destroyed an outbuilding.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindVinita$5,000Trees and power lines were blown down.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindVinita$5,000no account filed
August 2001LightningVinita$3,000A house was struck by lightning in Vinita. Only minor damage was reported.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$3,000Tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Vinita.
November 2005Thunderstorm WindVinita$2,000A Sonic restaurant had wind damage to the awning.
November 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$2,000Winds estimated near 60 miles an hour caused several electrical transformers to blow near Ketchum at the Craig/Mayes County line.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and overturned a shed.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large tree limbs and snapped a power pole.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour broke off one power pole and caused 3 others to lean over. The wind also blew down numerous large tree limbs.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down power poles.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour damaged the roof of a drive through at a bank in Ketchum.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down power lines.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000Power lines in Vinita were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
November 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000The roof was blown off of a shed 3 miles northwest of Big Cabin.
September 1996Thunderstorm WindVinita$1,000no account filed
March 2001Thunderstorm WindVinita$100Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs at Big Cabin.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindVinita$100Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs in Big Cabin.
November 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$100Winds estimated between 60 and 75 miles an hour blew tree limbs down in Vinita.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindVinita$100Tree limbs were blown down west of Vinita.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindVinita$100no account filed
August 2023Flash FloodVinita-Portions of several roads in and around Vinita were flooded.
May 2019Flash FloodVinita-Portions of Highway 60 east of Vinita were flooded and closed.
May 2019Flash FloodVinita-Portions of Highways 69 and 60 were flooded and closed.
April 2019Flash FloodVinita-Portions of Highway 2 were closed due to flooding.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindVinita-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several trees.
May 2011Flash FloodVinita-Flood water covered many county roads around Bluejacket and Pyramid Corners.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindVinita-Large tree limbs were blown down by strong thunderstorm wind.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindVinita-The Oklahoma Mesonet station located near Vinita measured 60 mph thunderstorm wind gusts.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindVinita-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.
April 2008Flash FloodVinita-Heavy rain caused street flooding in the Ketchum area.
April 2008Flash FloodVinita-Heavy rain caused secondary roads near Vinita to be flooded.
June 2008Flash FloodVinita-Heavy rain caused extensive flooding near Interstate 44.
June 2008Flash FloodVinita-Locally heavy rainfall flooded streets in and around Vinita.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindVinita-The Oklahoma mesonet site near Vinita recorded a 58 mile an hour wind gust.
April 2008Flash FloodVinita-Heavy rain caused some low lying areas in the City of Vinita to be flooded. A few roads in the vicinity of Vinita were also flooded.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindVinita-Strong thunderstorm wind gusts blew down large tree limbs in Ketchum.

Every storm recorded in Craig County

Newspapers printed here

23,312 digitised pages

6 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 5,186 issues, 23,312 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
The Weekly Chieftain1905 to 1913
The Vinita Weekly Chieftain1902 to 1905
The Vinita Daily Chieftain1902 to 1913
The Daily Indian Chieftain1891 to 189?
The Daily Chieftain1898 to 1902
Indian Chieftain1882 to 1902

What the paper printed

24,168 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 22 issues spread across its run from 1882 to 1913, 24,168 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

IssuePaper Length
1882-09-29Indian Chieftain136 words
1882-11-03Indian Chieftain1,479 words
1882-11-24Indian Chieftain1,004 words
1902-12-18Indian Chieftain492 words
1902-12-18The Vinita Daily Chieftain1,091 words
1902-12-23The Vinita Daily Chieftain797 words
1902-12-26The Vinita Daily Chieftain1,520 words
1902-12-30The Vinita Daily Chieftain759 words
1913-01-31The Vinita Daily Chieftain3,122 words
1891-09-23The Daily Indian Chieftain775 words
1891-09-25The Daily Indian Chieftain773 words
1892-10-06The Daily Indian Chieftain683 words
1908-03-26The Weekly Chieftain188 words
1908-07-24The Weekly Chieftain1,428 words
1908-09-18The Weekly Chieftain1,352 words
1912-12-27The Weekly Chieftain3,729 words
1902-12-25The Vinita Weekly Chieftain621 words
1908-03-19The Vinita Weekly Chieftain76 words
1898-10-20The Daily Chieftain477 words
1898-11-09The Daily Chieftain1,851 words
1898-11-28The Daily Chieftain1,403 words
1898-12-17The Daily Chieftain412 words

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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Cornatzar2.5 miles14
Kelso5.2 miles14
Todd5.7 miles14
White Oak6.0 miles15
Success6.6 miles14
Estella7.7 miles15
Big Cabin7.8 miles14
Okoee8.9 miles14

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 VinitaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1003693The 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 1099271. 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.