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

RankCityPopulationKlansKlans Per Capita
1Shamrock, OK5110.01960784
2Elmer, OK11110.00900901
3Tuskahoma, OK13810.00724638
4Devol, OK15410.00649351
5Camargo, OK20410.00490196
6Ames, OK25410.00393701
7Caney, OK25810.00387597
8Kaw City, OK27710.00361011
9Bennington, OK28510.00350877
10Wakita, OK33510.00298507
11Avant, OK36910.00271003
12Wapanucka, OK38910.00257069
13Shidler, OK40210.00248756
14Chattanooga, OK42210.00236967
15Wynona, OK43110.00232019
16Mccurtain, OK45010.00222222
17Billings, OK48710.00205339
18Ramona, OK50310.00198807
19Kiowa, OK53610.00186567
20Binger, OK60610.00165017
21Haileyville, OK69810.00143266
22Garber, OK72010.00138889
23Boswell, OK72910.00137174
24Roff, OK80910.00123609
25Ringling, OK96010.00104167
26Allen, OK99010.0010101
27Weleetka, OK99710.00100301
28Quinton, OK1,02710.00097371
29Beggs, OK1,12710.00088731
30Yale, OK1,16910.00085543
31Oilton, OK1,18810.00084175
32Caddo, OK1,20310.00083126
33Temple, OK1,20810.00082781
34Locust Grove, OK1,30710.00076511
35Minco, OK1,42310.00070274
36Cherokee, OK1,55710.00064226
37Morris, OK1,60610.00062267
38Wilson, OK1,61110.00062073
39Comanche, OK1,65510.00060423
40Chelsea, OK1,89210.00052854
41Kiefer, OK2,00510.00049875
42Carnegie, OK2,02110.0004948
43Hollis, OK2,11010.00047393
44Pawnee, OK2,24710.00044504
45Newkirk, OK2,29710.00043535
46Antlers, OK2,43710.00041034
47Spiro, OK2,50210.00039968
48Hennessey, OK2,50810.00039872
49Healdton, OK2,77910.00035984
50Drumright, OK2,92610.00034176
51Mangum, OK2,94710.00033933
52Watonga, OK2,99310.00033411
53Atoka, OK3,09310.00032331
54Tonkawa, OK3,14410.00031807
55Cleveland, OK3,23810.00030883
56Checotah, OK3,34310.00029913
57Muldrow, OK3,37510.0002963
58Heavener, OK3,39710.00029438
59Dewey, OK3,47610.00028769
60Pawhuska, OK3,67910.00027181
61Hobart, OK3,72910.00026817
62Nowata, OK3,73410.00026781
63Sulphur, OK4,99610.00020016
64Perry, OK5,08710.00019658
65Hugo, OK5,29410.00018889
66Vinita, OK5,63710.0001774
67Henryetta, OK5,84810.000171
68Grove, OK6,65810.0001502
69Anadarko, OK6,78610.00014736
70Blackwell, OK6,95710.00014374
71Idabel, OK7,01510.00014255
72Seminole, OK7,49310.00013346
73Skiatook, OK7,57110.00013208
74Cushing, OK7,87010.00012706
75Wagoner, OK8,49910.00011766
76Poteau, OK8,56310.00011678
77El Reno, OK17,51520.00011419
78Coweta, OK9,48310.00010545
79Guthrie, OK10,66819.374e-05
80Elk City, OK12,19818.198e-05
81Okmulgee, OK12,39818.066e-05
82Chickasha, OK16,19516.175e-05
83Durant, OK16,50716.058e-05
84Ada, OK17,06115.861e-05
85Jenks, OK18,31215.461e-05
86Mcalester, OK18,35415.448e-05
87Claremore, OK18,84915.305e-05
88Ponca City, OK24,95114.008e-05
89Bartlesville, OK36,19312.763e-05
90Muskogee, OK38,93712.568e-05
91Stillwater, OK46,85112.134e-05
92Enid, OK50,23211.991e-05
93Lawton, OK97,78811.023e-05
94Broken Arrow, OK101,91719.81e-06
95Tulsa, OK395,59912.53e-06
96Oklahoma City, OK600,72911.66e-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.

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