El Reno, Oklahoma

Panoramic map of El Reno, 1891

The city was originally located about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of its present location, on the banks of the North Canadian River, bearing the name Reno City, which caused its mail to get mixed up with mail for Reno, Nevada. After the second time the town flooded, it was moved to its present location and changed its name to El Reno. This word is Spanish for "the reindeer".[6] The town, however, got its name from the nearby Fort Reno; reindeer are not native to Oklahoma.

Originally, the land of Canadian County belonged to Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, but in 1874, Fort Reno was established and General Philip Sheridan took commanded. Sheridan named the fort in honor of his friend, Gen. Jesse L. Reno, who was killed in the American Civil War. The grounds of the old fort became home to a research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1948.[5] The laboratory studies environmentally sustainable forage and livestock production, contributing to preservation of the Great Plains of North America.

El Reno is located on the 98th meridian west, which allowed the eastern side to be opened to non-Indian settlement in the Land Rush of 1889. The western side was opened in the 1892 opening of the Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. It was subsequently selected as the land district office for the 1901 land lottery drawings.[5]

During World War II, Fort Reno, about 5 mi (8.0 km) northwest of El Reno, was the site of a prisoner of war camp, and today contains a POW cemetery, with stones bearing the names of German and Italian prisoners who died there.

Southwestern Federal Reformatory, restricted to male prisoners under the age of 35, was constructed about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of El Reno in 1935. Renamed the Federal Correctional Institution of El Reno in the mid-1970s, the population expanded to include men of all ages. It became the fifth-largest prison in the U.S. It is still one of the largest employers in El Reno.[5]

El Reno is one of few cities in Oklahoma to have a streetcar in operation in the downtown area. At one time, it possessed a terminal and repair facility for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P or "Rock Island"), which employed a large number of people. The CRI&P went bankrupt in 1979. The railyards have remained vacant property. The old train depot and some other buildings were acquired by the Canadian County Historical Society for use as part of a museum complex.[5] The 1954 film noir Human Desire includes locomotive and yard scenes filmed in the El Reno rail yards.

El Reno is a Main Street community. The Oklahoma Main Street Program is a downtown revitalization program and the El Reno Program won the Great American Main Street Award in 2006.

The town is noted for its annual Fried Onion Burger Day Festival, which is always the first Saturday in May. Burger Day is when visitors can witness the cooking of the world's largest fried onion hamburger, weighing over 850 lb (390 kg). The giant burger contains all the important parts of the famous El Reno fried onion burgers, which include meat, fried onions, sliced pickles, and mustard all between two giant buns. Not only do festival goers get to watch the massive burger be built and cooked, but they are also allowed to help eat the monstrosity. Volunteers divide the giant burger into individual-sized portions with burger-sized cookie cutters. Other volunteers shuttle back and forth from the burger to the crowd, delivering the free portions to anyone wanting a piece. The idea of the fried onion burger was born out of necessity during the Great Depression, when onions were used to stretch out the meat supply.

On June 15, 2015, Sid's Diner was featured on the Food Network series Top 5 Restaurants, with the fried-onion burger being highlighted. Sid's Diner has also been featured on the Travel Channel series Man v. Food.

El Reno is located at 35°31′49″N 97°57′27″W (35.530261, −97.957529).[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 80.4 square miles (208 km²), of which 80.0 square miles (207 km²) of it are land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) of it (0.56%) is covered by water.

El Reno is located in the United States at the interchange of I-40 and U.S. Route 81. At one time, it sat on the boundary between Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, and sits about 20 miles (32 km) west of the old Chisholm Trail. Jesse Chisholm is buried nearby.

In 1952, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck near El Reno, causing damage to several buildings in the city. It is currently Oklahoma's third-strongest earthquake on record, and it was the strongest earthquake in Oklahoma history prior to the November 5, 2011 earthquake near Sparks.

El Reno is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2010,[13] 16,749 people, 5,727 households, and 3,842 families resided in the city. The population density was 202.7 people per square mile (78.3/km²). The 6,484 housing units averaged 81.1 per square mile (31.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.8% White, 11.1% Native American, 7.2% African American, 0.5% Asian, 4.7% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 12.9% of the population.

Of the 5,727 households, which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were not families. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was distributed as 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,200, and for a family was $39,106. Males had a median income of $29,521 versus $20,107 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,570. About 11.4% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

The City of El Reno operates under a council-manager government system. City employees include the city manager, finance director, police chief, fire chief, city clerk, public works director, code enforcement director, community services director, and city librarian.[14]

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno.[15]

• Canadian Valley Technology Center is on famed Route 66 about 3 mi (5 km) east of the city.
• Redlands Community College opened in 1971.

The El Reno Tribune publishes Wednesday and Sunday and has a circulation around 5,000.[16]

• Charles Cannon (1915–1997), the Texas saddlemaker, broke horses for the U.S. government in El Reno during World War II.
• Harlond Clift, Major League Baseball infielder
• Solomon Andrew Layton (1864 - 1943), architect, was born in Iowa, but moved to El Reno in 1902, then to Oklahoma City in 1911; he designed many notable public buildings in Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma state Capitol, the Bizzell Memorial Library at the University of Oklahoma, and El Reno High School.
• Harvey Pratt, Native American forensic artist (b. 1941)
• Hub Reed, pro basketball player (St. Louis Hawks, Cincinnati Royals, Los Angeles Lakers, and Detroit Pistons) (b. 1936)
• Erik Rhodes, Broadway and Hollywood actor (1906–1990)
• Sam Rivers (1923-2011), jazz musician and composer
• Kenzie Ruston, NASCAR driver in the K&N Pro Series East (b. 1991)
• Gaylord Shaw, 1978 Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, managing editor of Dallas Times Herald and Los Angeles Times (b. 1942)
• Suzan Shown Harjo, advocate for American Indian rights (b. 1945)

National Register of Historic Places

• Carnegie Library
• El Reno High School
• Mennoville Mennonite Church

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for El Reno.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to El Reno, Oklahoma.

• City of El Reno
• El Reno Tribune
• Legends of America
• "El Reno", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture