Bryan Co., OK; History After Statehood

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Trudy Marlow 
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           Bryan County after Statehood

Bryan County was divided into several townships.  In 1950, the
townships were Brown, Speairs, Caddo, Bokchito, Matoy, 
Bennington, Albany, Calera, Colbert, and Kemp.  In 1970, the
county divisions changed to Durant North, North Central Bryan,
East Bryan, Colbert, Durant South, Southeast Bryan and South
Bryan.

Bryan County is home to the Choctaw Nation.  The tribal
offices are located on Sixteenth and Locust in Durant.

The Red River has been a key factor in the history of Bryan 
County.  The building of the Red River Bridge created numerous
jobs for the area in the 1930's.  A little later, the building
of the Denison Dam, and the creation of Lake Texoma employed 
several Bryan County citizens.

Bryan County is also part of an area known as Texomaland.
Texomaland includes the land surrounding Lake Texoma on both
the Oklahoma and Texas side.  When searching for newspaper 
articles on individuals or events in Bryan County, be sure
to search through the Texoma area papers. North Texas newspapers 
covered southern Oklahoma news worthy stories. For instance, 
search  the Sherman Democrat which was founded August 1879 and 
the Denison Herald which was founded July 1889. In 1996, the two 
newspapersmerged to form the Herald Democrat.  Back issues of the 
ShermanDemocrat are available at the Sherman Public Library, 421 
North Travis Street in Sherman, Texas.  

Need court or probate records for Bryan County, Oklahoma?
From 1884 to 1889, check the Western District of Arkansas,  
they had jurisdiction over criminal and some civil matters 
in Indian Territory. In 1889 the U.S. District Court for 
the Eastern District of Texas assumed the jurisdiction. 
After 1890, check the county court records, because the 
Territory was divided into several court districts that 
serve as county courts. Copies of court records can be 
obtained by contacting the clerk's office in the appropriate 
county courthouse.  Official records were not kept until 
after statehood in 1907. In 1908, Durant became the county 
seat of Bryan County. The Bryan County Courthouse is 
located at 402 West Evergreen in Durant, OK.  The zip code 
is 74701.