The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

KATIE.

The town of Katie is situated in south-central Garvin County, six miles southeast of Elmore City and approximately thirteen miles southwest of Pauls Valley (the county seat). The area was originally within the Chickasaw Nation. Katie post office was established on March 13, 1895. The derivation of the name Katie has multiple explanations. In one, it is said to represent the name of a daughter of G. T. Griffiths, the first postmaster. A more plausible story is that the town was named for a local settler's daughter, Catherine (Katie) Millwee, whose grandparent, John H. Hargrove, may have had the post office named for her. In the early 1900s a rural community grew up around the corners of Sections 6 and 7 of Township 1 North, Range 2 West and in Sections 1 and 12 of Township 1 North, Range 3 West. State gazetteers for the early twentieth century describe Katie with a population of around 40. They patronized two general stores, a Baptist church, and a school by 1909. By 1918, however, the population of approximately 50 supported five general stores, a barbershop, a blacksmith shop, and a livestock breeder-dealer, and a gristmill provided important services for the surrounding farms. A Church of Christ was established in 1924. The WPA erected a school building at Katie in 1939.

Katie incorporated as a town on July 27, 2004. Its incorporated area encompasses approximately 19.5 square miles. The U.S. Census of 2010 found that Katie had 348 inhabitants. In 2010 the dispersed population supported two Baptist churches, the 1939 WPA schoolhouse, which serves as a community center, and a volunteer fire department building. Katie is located on County Roads North-South 317 and East-West 168, and State Highway 74, three miles east, also provides transportation access. The April 2020 census reported 330 residents.

Dianna Everett