Beckham County, Oklahoma

Beckham County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 19,799. Its is. Beckham County was named for, who was and the first popularly elected member of the  from.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,342 (904 ). 2,336 km² (902 sq mi) of it is land and 6 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.26%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[image:I-40.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 283.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:Oklahoma State Highway 6.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Oklahoma State Highway 30.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Oklahoma State Highway 34.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

History
After a dispute over the of 1819, both the governments of the United States and the state of Texas claimed ownership of some 1.5 million acres (6,100 km²) in what was then operated as. Litigation followed, and in the case of United States v. State of Texas, issued on , the , having original jurisdiction over the case, decided in favor of the United States. The county was then assigned to the Oklahoma Territory on, and when Oklahoma became a state, in addition to forming a part of Beckham County, the region was also further split into , , and   counties.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 19,799 people, 7,356 households, and 5,002 families residing in the county. The was 8/km² (22/sq mi). There were 8,796 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 87.05%, 5.55% or , 2.58% , 0.41% , 0.02% , 2.24% from , and 2.16% from two or more races. 5.45% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,356 households out of which 32.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.80% were living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.00% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 109.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,402, and the median income for a family was $34,315. Males had a median income of $26,387 versus $18,945 for females. The for the county was $14,488. About 14.30% of families and 18.20% of the population were below the, including 24.80% of those under age 18 and 9.10% of those age 65 or over.

NRHP sites
The following sites in Beckham County are listed on the :

Trivia
Beckham County, Oklahoma had a short lived counterpart,, which was also named for , who served as and as the first popularly elected member of the  from.