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Yale, Oklahoma

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Yale census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74085. It stands on Mud Creek. The Survey maps it on the Yale quadrangle. 1,059 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 804 feet above sea level.

Yale within Payne County

On record in Yale

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Yale fell from 1,227 to 1,059 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
20101,227
20201,059-168 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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.

Photographs

5 photographs, 2020

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

An otherwise-ordinary commercial building in the small Oklahoma city of Yale that's famous locally for being, shockingly orange
An otherwise-ordinary commercial building in the small Oklahoma city of Yale that's famous locally for being, shockingly orange
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
The restored, 1876 Rice-Payne cabin, thought to be the oldest standing house in Yale, a small city in Payne County, Oklahoma, is regularly upstaged by its next-door neighbor, a modest house once occupied by Jim Thorpe, a Native American gold medalist Olympic athlete and, briefly, professional football star
The restored, 1876 Rice-Payne cabin, thought to be the oldest standing house in Yale, a small city in Payne County, Oklahoma, is regularly upstaged by its next-door neighbor, a modest house once occupied by Jim Thorpe, a Native American gold medalist Olympic athlete and, briefly, professional football star
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
The metal sunroof over the Dairy Hut in the town of Yale, Oklahoma, is no doubt appreciated at this ice-cream stand on a hot summer's day in this southwestern-U.S. state
The metal sunroof over the Dairy Hut in the town of Yale, Oklahoma, is no doubt appreciated at this ice-cream stand on a hot summer's day in this southwestern-U.S. state
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
The modest Jim Thorpe Home in Yale, a small city in Payne County, Oklahoma
The modest Jim Thorpe Home in Yale, a small city in Payne County, Oklahoma
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Rural scene near the small Payne County, Oklahoma, city of Yale
Rural scene near the small Payne County, Oklahoma, city of Yale
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

44 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 44 fires within 5 miles of Yale between 2004 and 2020, burning about 1,643 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Debris and open burning9
Natural5
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony1
Fireworks1

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
26 September 2006Debris and open burning4.0 acresPawnee AgencyMATTIE EAGLECHIEF
21 August 2006Natural1.0 acresPawnee AgencyBFOT
1 August 2006Debris and open burning5.0 acresPawnee AgencyTHOMAS
21 May 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acrePawnee AgencyYOUNGHAWK
6 April 2011Natural3.0 acresPawnee AgencyFRIED SQUIREL
6 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresPawnee AgencyYOUNGHAWK
4 April 2015Debris and open burning109 acresPawnee AgencyTANKER 2 FIRE
4 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePawnee AgencyCEMETERY FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Payne County

Storms near this place

30 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Yale in 30 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 14 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1997LightningYale$80,000Lightning struck and set fire to a house, destroying the home and its contents.
July 2021Tornado (EF1)Yale$50,000A tornado touched down within the bend of the Cimarron River southwest of Yale and traveled almost a mile and a half to the southeast. At the beginning of the path, the tornado damaged oil tanks and trees. Multiple barns were heavily damaged as the tornado moved southeast across E3530 Road. The tornado then turned more south-southeast damaging numerous trees, a barn and a pivot irrigator.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindYale$20,000Structural damage throughout the community of Yale. Time is radar estimated.
May 1999LightningYale$20,000no account filed
July 2009Thunderstorm WindYale$10,000Trees and power lines were downed. Monetary damages were estimated.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindYale$5,000no account filed
March 1999LightningYale$1,500Lightning struck a television antenna on a house on Norfolk Road, starting a fire.
August 1998LightningYale$1,000Lightning struck a telephone line. The electricity then transferred through the line and into a house causing a light fixture to explode.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindYale$100A tree was blown down.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindYale-Social media image showing a large tree limb blown down, blocking the roadway near the intersection of B Street and Dallas Street in the community of Yale. Time is radar estimated.
May 2019FloodYale-Vehicle rescue. Highway 18 and 19th Ave due to road collapse.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindYale-Four inch diameter tree limbs were downed on the east side of town.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindYale-Three foot diameter trees were snapped, with some of the trees falling onto homes. Outbuildings and carports sustained major damage. A grain bin and barn were severely damaged. Seating at the football stadium was heavily damaged, as was the press box and the fencing surrounding the stadium. Monetary damage estimates were not available.
August 1994HailYale-Isolated severe thunderstorms developed across Payne County during the early evening hours of the 4th. The storms produced dime size hail and damaging winds. Severe thunderstorm winds ripped the front door off the Police Department building at Cushing.
April 2018HailYale-no account filed
July 2016HailYale-no account filed
June 2011HailYale-no account filed
May 2011Thunderstorm WindYale-no account filed
May 2009HailYale-no account filed
November 2008HailYale-no account filed
November 2008HailYale-no account filed
June 2008HailYale-no account filed
April 2004HailYale-no account filed
May 1999HailYale-no account filed
May 1994Tornado (F0)Yale-no account filed
May 1994HailYale-no account filed
May 1994Thunderstorm WindYale-no account filed
April 1994HailYale-no account filed
April 1994HailYale-no account filed
March 1993HailYale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Payne County

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
Cartoco2.0 miles12
Quay3.2 miles12
Schlegel7.4 miles12
Gano7.5 miles11
North Village9.2 miles11
Cushing9.6 miles10
West Point9.7 miles11
Ingalls9.7 miles11

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 YaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2846167The 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 1100033. 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.

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.