Ada, Oklahoma

Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,810 at the 2010 census, an increase of 7.1 percent from 15,691 at the 2000 census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was incorporated in 1901. Ada is home to East Central University, and is the headquarters of the Chickasaw Nation.

Ada is an Oklahoma Main Street City, an Oklahoma Certified City, a Tree City USA member, and a National Weather Service StormReady Community.

History
In the late 1880s, the Daggs family (by way of Texas) became the first white family to settle what is now known as Ada, which was formerly known as Daggs Prairie. In April 1889, Jeff Reed (a native Texan, and relative of the Daggs family) was appointed to carry the mail from Stonewall to Center (which was later combined with Pickett), two small communities in then Indian Territory. With his family and his stock, he sought a place for a home on a prairie midway between the two points, where he constructed a log house and started Reed's Store. Other settlers soon built homes nearby. In 1891, a post office was established and named after Reed's oldest daughter, Ada. Ada incorporated as a city in 1901 and grew rapidly with the arrival of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway line. Within a decade the Santa Fe Railroad and the Oklahoma Central Railway also served the town.

In 1909, the women of Ada organized an effort to build a normal school in their city. It resulted in the founding of East Central College (now East Central University).

On April 19, 1909, an organized mob hanged four men set to be tried for the murder of a former U.S. marshal and member of the local freemason lodge. The town had a population of about 5,000 at the time, and 38 murders a year at the time of the lynching. The Daily Ardmoreite reported that the four lynched men were "one of the bloodiest band of murderers in the state of Oklahoma and an organization of professional assassins, that for a record of blood crimes, probably has no equal in the annals of criminal history in the entire southwest."

The first manufacturing company in Ada, the Portland Cement Company, installed the first cement clinker in Oklahoma in 1910. American Glass Casket Company began manufacturing glass caskets in 1916, but the business failed. Hazel Atlas Glass bought the plant in 1928 and produced glass products until 1991.

Geography
Ada is located in the rolling hills of southeastern Oklahoma; its geographic coordinates are 34.76361°N, -96.66833°W (34.763661, -96.668214). Ada is 88 mi from Oklahoma City, 122 mi from Tulsa, and 133 mi from Dallas, Texas.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.8 sqmi, of which 15.7 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi (0.44%) is water.

Demographics


As of the 2010 census, Ada's 16,810 residents consisted of 6,697 households and 3,803 families. The population density was 999.3 people per square mile (385.9/km²). The 7,862 housing units were dispersed at an average density of 475.9 per square mile (183.8/km²). Ada's 2006 racial makeup was 73.81% White, 3.54% African American, 15.10% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.89% from other races, and 5.81% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.89% of the population.

Of Ada's 6,697 households, 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. The 15.8% of those 65 years or older living alone made up a substantial portion of the 37.1% single-person households. Average household size was 2.20 persons; average family size was 2.91.

The age breakdown in 2006 was 22.3% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% aged 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. The disparity between the number of males and the number of females seems to be decreasing: for every 100 females aged 18 or over, there were only 84.5 males, but when all females and males were taken into account, there were 100 females for every 88.4 males.

Median household income was $22,977, while median family income was $31,805. Males had a median income of $25,223 versus $17,688 for females. Ada's per capita income was $14,666. Some 14.8% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.8% of those under 18 and 11.4% of those 65 or over.

Economy
The economy of Ada is diversified. In the mid and late 20th century, the town was a manufacturing center, producing products such as Wrangler jeans, auto parts, cement and concrete, plastic-wear, and other products. Since the start of the 21st century, however, most large manufacturing centers have left or have downsized considerably.

In 1975, the Chickasaw Nation opened its headquarters to Ada. Revenues for the Nation were over 12 billion dollars in 2011, most of which is funneled through Ada. Machspeed Technologies, one of the largest producers and sellers of tablet PCs and media players in the United States is headquartered in Ada. The Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center, a large water research lab staffed by the Environmental Protection Agency, opened in 1966 and is located just outside the city. LegalShield, formally Pre-Paid Legal, is the largest provider of pre-paid legal services in the United States and is headquartered in the city. Oil and natural gas are still very much a part of the regional economy, but no large companies that provide significant employment exist in the city.

The largest employers in the region are the following:


 * Ada City Schools
 * Chickasaw Nation
 * Chickasaw Enterprises
 * East Central University
 * Pontotoc County Technology Center
 * Solo Cup
 * Flex-N-Gate (Auto Parts Manufacturing)
 * Holcim Inc. (Portland Cement)
 * LegalShield
 * Walmart
 * Kerr Lab
 * Edge Tech Corp (MachSpeed Technologies)
 * Mercy Hospital Ada
 * City of Ada
 * Interactive Response Technologies (IRT Call Center for T-Mobile)

Higher education
East Central University, located in Ada, is a public four-year institution that has been in operation since 1909. ECU serves roughly 4,500 students and is perhaps best known internationally for its cartography program, as only a few such programs exist. ECU is also home to an Environmental Health Science Program, one of only 30 programs nationally accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council (http://www.ehacoffice.org/).

Primary and secondary
Ada Public Schools has six primary and secondary schools.
 * Glenwood Early Childhood Center
 * Hayes Grade Center
 * Washington Grade Center
 * Willard Grade Center
 * Ada Junior High School
 * Ada High School

Technical school
Pontotoc Technology Center (formerly Pontotoc Area Vo-Tech) is located in Ada.

National Register of Historic Places
The following sites in Ada are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:


 * Ada Public Library
 * Bebee Field Round House
 * East Central State Normal School
 * Mijo Camp Industrial District
 * Pontotoc County Courthouse
 * Sugg Clinic
 * Wintersmith Park Historic District

Notable people

 * Bill Anoatubby - Governor of the Chickasaw Nation since 1987.
 * Vaughn Ary - Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
 * Nick Blackburn – Minnesota Twins starting pitcher.
 * Harry Brecheen - Former Major League Baseball All Star pitcher; graduated from Ada High School; buried at Ada's Rosedale Cemetery.
 * Jeff Carpenter, musician and songwriter with the all Native American orchestral rock band Injunuity
 * Dan Cody – Baltimore Ravens linebacker; born in Ada.
 * Johnson T. Crawford - Nuremberg Trial Judge
 * Tae Dye - Member of country duo Maddie and Tae
 * Douglas Edwards – First television network anchor.
 * Josh Fields - Pittsburgh Pirates infielder; born in Ada.
 * Mark Gastineau – National Football League all-star, ECU graduate.
 * Monte Hale – Western-genre film star
 * Johny Hendricks - UFC Welterweight Champion.
 * Anthony Armstrong Jones – Country music singer.
 * David Keirsey - psychologist; born in Ada
 * Robert S. Kerr – Former Oklahoma Governor and long-time U.S. Senator; born in Ada.
 * Don Owen - Louisiana news anchor and politician, worked in radio in Ada early in his career.
 * Louise S. Robbins – Wisconsin Librarian of the Year (2001); named one of Oklahoma's 100 Library Legends; director of the School of Library and Information Studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of two award-winning books. Longtime resident of Ada and first woman city council member and mayor.
 * Oral Roberts – Evangelist; born near Ada.
 * Blake Shelton – Country music singer with many #1 hits.
 * Jeremy Shockey – Former NFL Tight End born and grew up in Ada.
 * Leon Polk Smith – Abstract artist known for his work with geometric painting; graduate of East Central University.
 * Ron Williamson - Minor league baseball player wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1988 in Ada for rape and murder but eventually exonerated. Subject of The Innocent Man by John Grisham.

Debbie Carter and Denice Haraway murders
In 2006, a book by author John Grisham brought Ada into the national spotlight related to the false convictions and imprisonment of two individuals for the murder of Debra Sue "Debbie" Carter and two individuals convicted of the murder of Denice Haraway that the city officials were under pressure to solve. The cases were researched by a New York reporter and were the subject of the book The Dreams of Ada and eventually written about in The Innocent Man, Grisham's first non-fiction book. Accounts from both books suggest major flaws, irregularities, and outright miscarriages of justice including forced and made-up confessions by the police and prosecutors. Prosecutor Bill Peterson has self-published his disagreements with Grisham's version of events.

Martian crater named Ada
The name Ada has been assigned to a small crater on the planet Mars by the International Astronomical Union. Like all small Martian craters, it was named after a small town, without commemoration.