Oklaunion is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Wilbarger County

Wilbarger County, Texas

*Harrold *Odell *Oklaunion *Vernon-Notable natives and residents:*Jack English Hightower, Memphis, Texas, native; former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature, and former U.S...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. According to the Handbook of Texas

Handbook of Texas

The Handbook of Texas is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association .-History:...

, the community had an estimated population of 138 in 2000.

Geography

Oklaunion is located at 34°07′46"N 99°08′34"W (34.1295324, -99.1428544). It is situated at the junction of U.S. Highways 283

U.S. Route 283

U.S. Route 283 is a spur of U.S. Route 83. It currently runs for 731 miles from Brady, Texas at U.S. Route 87 to Lexington, Nebraska at U.S. Route 30. It passes through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska.-Texas:...

, 70

U.S. Route 70

U.S. Route 70 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,385 miles from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. As can be derived from its number, it is a major east–west highway of the Southern and Southwestern United States...

, and 183

U.S. Route 183

U.S. Route 183 is a north–south United States highway. U.S. 183 was the last US route to be completely paved. The 20 mile segment in Loup County, Nebraska, north of Taylor, was unpaved until 1967. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with...

 in northeastern Wilbarger County, approximately nine miles east of Vernon

Vernon, Texas

Vernon is a city in Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 11,660; it was 11,077 in the 2005 census estimate. Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County....

. The nearest large city is Wichita Falls

Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...

, located 42 miles east of Oklaunion.

History

Originally known as Mayflower, the community was renamed Oklaunion around 1888 by Joseph S. "Buckskin" Works. The reason behind the name change was an attempt to attract the Frisco line to the community so that it would connect with the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway. Nearby Vernon was chosen as the site for the linkage, however, but Oklaunion prospered as a stop on the Fort Worth and Denver City line. A post office was established in 1889 and a school opened during the mid-1890s.

The community voted to incorporate on June 6, 1928. In 1930, the town had a population of 254. That figure fell to 223 in 1940 and 129 by 1950. Sometime after, the town dissolved its incorporation. The population had fallen to fewer than 140 in 1990 and remained at that level by 2000.

Although Oklaunion is unincorporated, it has a post office with the zip code of 76373.

Power supply facilities

Near Oklaunion, there is a coal fired power station with a power of 692 megawatts.

Since 1984 there has been a back-to-back HVDC station at Oklaunion which was built by General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

. It works with a voltage of 82 kV and has a transfer rate of 200 megawatts.

Education

Public education in the community of Oklaunion is provided by the Vernon Independent School District

Vernon Independent School District

Vernon Independent School District is a public school district based in Vernon, Texas .The district serves a large portion of Wilbarger County and extends into a small portion of northeastern Foard County....

. The Oklaunion Independent School District consolidated with Vernon in 1967.