Cities In Oklahoma With The Most Historic KKK Members


The cities in Oklahoma with the most historic KKK members are Shamrock and Elmer for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Historical KKK locations in Oklahoma research summary. We analyzed research using Saturday Night Science from the Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped Klaverns by city from 1915-1940. This report analyzes the locations of historic KKK organizations to see where they were the most prevalent in Oklahoma.

  • The city in Oklahoma with the most number of Klaverns was El Reno with 2 Klaverns.
  • The city in Oklahoma with the most number of Klaverns per capita was Shamrock with 0.0196 Klaverns.
  • There were historically 97 Klaverns in Oklahoma.
  • There were a total of 96 places in Oklahoma with at least 1 Klavern during the period of reference.

Hate groups can be hard to measure because, typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. These cities have historically been the most racist in Oklahoma based on the number of KKK Klaverns.

This report does not speak to the current people who live there or the current state of the KKK in the same towns or areas.

Most Racist Cities In Oklahoma Map


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


A quick history lesson on the KKK

What is the KKK? In a nutshell, the KKK was formed back in 1865, and there have been three separate movements, all three of which were supposedly ‘purification movements’ in America. The 1865-1870s movement sought to overthrow Republican state governments.

The second movement (1915 – 1944) saw millions of members of the KKK form, which was opposed to immigration into America, especially against Catholics and Jews.

The most memorable movement of the KKK started in the 1950s, which was involved in the Civil Rights movement and targeted the black population in America.

The number of active members of the KKK is much smaller these days.

The cities below are the places where there were Klans back in the day and where the number of Klans per the current population is high. This means the number of racist members of the community has historically been the highest, according to the math.

The 10 Most Historically Racist Places In Oklahoma

  1. Shamrock
  2. Elmer
  3. Tuskahoma
  4. Devol
  5. Camargo
  6. Ames
  7. Caney
  8. Kaw City
  9. Bennington
  10. Wakita

This report is an analysis of the locations of historic KKK organizations divided by the number of people who currently live there.

For more Oklahoma reading, check out:

Methodology: How We Measured The Most Historically Racist Places In The Sooner State

While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.

Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.

Using Saturday Night Science, we analyzed the locations of historic KKK organizations per capita using current population data.

There You Have It – The Most Historically Racist Cities In Oklahoma

When you’re looking at the places in Oklahoma with the highest number of historical KKK Klaverns per capita, this is an accurate list.

Below is a chart that lists all cities in Oklahoma with at least one KKK organization from 1915-1940.

The cities with the largest number of KKK klaverns per capita were Shamrock, Elmer, Tuskahoma, Devol, Camargo, Ames, Caney, Kaw City, Bennington, and Wakita.

For more Oklahoma reading, check out:

Cities With Hisoritcally High KKK Membership In Oklahoma

Rank City Population Klans Klans Per Capita
1 Shamrock, OK 51 1 0.01960784
2 Elmer, OK 111 1 0.00900901
3 Tuskahoma, OK 138 1 0.00724638
4 Devol, OK 154 1 0.00649351
5 Camargo, OK 204 1 0.00490196
6 Ames, OK 254 1 0.00393701
7 Caney, OK 258 1 0.00387597
8 Kaw City, OK 277 1 0.00361011
9 Bennington, OK 285 1 0.00350877
10 Wakita, OK 335 1 0.00298507
11 Avant, OK 369 1 0.00271003
12 Wapanucka, OK 389 1 0.00257069
13 Shidler, OK 402 1 0.00248756
14 Chattanooga, OK 422 1 0.00236967
15 Wynona, OK 431 1 0.00232019
16 Mccurtain, OK 450 1 0.00222222
17 Billings, OK 487 1 0.00205339
18 Ramona, OK 503 1 0.00198807
19 Kiowa, OK 536 1 0.00186567
20 Binger, OK 606 1 0.00165017
21 Haileyville, OK 698 1 0.00143266
22 Garber, OK 720 1 0.00138889
23 Boswell, OK 729 1 0.00137174
24 Roff, OK 809 1 0.00123609
25 Ringling, OK 960 1 0.00104167
26 Allen, OK 990 1 0.0010101
27 Weleetka, OK 997 1 0.00100301
28 Quinton, OK 1,027 1 0.00097371
29 Beggs, OK 1,127 1 0.00088731
30 Yale, OK 1,169 1 0.00085543
31 Oilton, OK 1,188 1 0.00084175
32 Caddo, OK 1,203 1 0.00083126
33 Temple, OK 1,208 1 0.00082781
34 Locust Grove, OK 1,307 1 0.00076511
35 Minco, OK 1,423 1 0.00070274
36 Cherokee, OK 1,557 1 0.00064226
37 Morris, OK 1,606 1 0.00062267
38 Wilson, OK 1,611 1 0.00062073
39 Comanche, OK 1,655 1 0.00060423
40 Chelsea, OK 1,892 1 0.00052854
41 Kiefer, OK 2,005 1 0.00049875
42 Carnegie, OK 2,021 1 0.0004948
43 Hollis, OK 2,110 1 0.00047393
44 Pawnee, OK 2,247 1 0.00044504
45 Newkirk, OK 2,297 1 0.00043535
46 Antlers, OK 2,437 1 0.00041034
47 Spiro, OK 2,502 1 0.00039968
48 Hennessey, OK 2,508 1 0.00039872
49 Healdton, OK 2,779 1 0.00035984
50 Drumright, OK 2,926 1 0.00034176
51 Mangum, OK 2,947 1 0.00033933
52 Watonga, OK 2,993 1 0.00033411
53 Atoka, OK 3,093 1 0.00032331
54 Tonkawa, OK 3,144 1 0.00031807
55 Cleveland, OK 3,238 1 0.00030883
56 Checotah, OK 3,343 1 0.00029913
57 Muldrow, OK 3,375 1 0.0002963
58 Heavener, OK 3,397 1 0.00029438
59 Dewey, OK 3,476 1 0.00028769
60 Pawhuska, OK 3,679 1 0.00027181
61 Hobart, OK 3,729 1 0.00026817
62 Nowata, OK 3,734 1 0.00026781
63 Sulphur, OK 4,996 1 0.00020016
64 Perry, OK 5,087 1 0.00019658
65 Hugo, OK 5,294 1 0.00018889
66 Vinita, OK 5,637 1 0.0001774
67 Henryetta, OK 5,848 1 0.000171
68 Grove, OK 6,658 1 0.0001502
69 Anadarko, OK 6,786 1 0.00014736
70 Blackwell, OK 6,957 1 0.00014374
71 Idabel, OK 7,015 1 0.00014255
72 Seminole, OK 7,493 1 0.00013346
73 Skiatook, OK 7,571 1 0.00013208
74 Cushing, OK 7,870 1 0.00012706
75 Wagoner, OK 8,499 1 0.00011766
76 Poteau, OK 8,563 1 0.00011678
77 El Reno, OK 17,515 2 0.00011419
78 Coweta, OK 9,483 1 0.00010545
79 Guthrie, OK 10,668 1 9.374e-05
80 Elk City, OK 12,198 1 8.198e-05
81 Okmulgee, OK 12,398 1 8.066e-05
82 Chickasha, OK 16,195 1 6.175e-05
83 Durant, OK 16,507 1 6.058e-05
84 Ada, OK 17,061 1 5.861e-05
85 Jenks, OK 18,312 1 5.461e-05
86 Mcalester, OK 18,354 1 5.448e-05
87 Claremore, OK 18,849 1 5.305e-05
88 Ponca City, OK 24,951 1 4.008e-05
89 Bartlesville, OK 36,193 1 2.763e-05
90 Muskogee, OK 38,937 1 2.568e-05
91 Stillwater, OK 46,851 1 2.134e-05
92 Enid, OK 50,232 1 1.991e-05
93 Lawton, OK 97,788 1 1.023e-05
94 Broken Arrow, OK 101,917 1 9.81e-06
95 Tulsa, OK 395,599 1 2.53e-06
96 Oklahoma City, OK 600,729 1 1.66e-06
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

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