The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

MARAMEC.

Located in southern Pawnee County, the incorporated town of Maramec is situated at the junction of County Roads E0530/N3550, one mile north of U.S. Highway 412 (Cimarron Turnpike). After the Cherokee Outlet Opening on September 16, 1893, a post office was designated on January 22, 1894. Originally known as Crystal for the nearby Crystal Spring, the town was renamed on April 8, 1903, for the Civil War ship USS Merrimack and moved one mile north so that it could be along the railroad. Between 1900 and 1904 the Eastern Oklahoma Railway (later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, AT&SF) built a line from Newkirk passing through Maramec to Pauls Valley. The railroad's need for water created the development of Maramec Lake in 1903. The rail company constructed a water tower, a coal chute, a stockyard, and a depot at Maramec.

In 1909 the community had approximately 350 inhabitants. They supported a bank, a weekly newspaper, a cotton gin, a livery, and a blacksmith. Settlers had organized Baptist and United Brethren churches. Three hotels offered respite to travelers. Local farmers raised corn, cotton, and livestock. Discovery of oil in 1920 gave the town a brief economic boost. In the early 1930s a cotton gin and an oil company continued in operation. By the mid-1940s a grocery store, a general store, a flour and feed store, and several garages and a gasoline station served the community. In the 1940s the AT&SF stopped passenger service to Maramec. By 1955 the town had two grocers, a feed store, and a garage/gasoline station. The high school closed in 1958.

At 1907 statehood Maramec's population stood at 272. The 1910 and 1920 censuses reported 224 and 287, respectively. Population peaked at 376 in 1930. Through the next five decades the numbers gradually declined from 271 in 1940 to a low of 101 in 1980. The town had 110 residents in 1990, 104 at the turn of the twenty-first century, and 91 in 2010. Employed citizens commuted to work in Pawnee, Stillwater, and Tulsa. The April 2020 census reported 66 residents.

Linda D. Wilson