Hominy, OK

Hominy is an Osage County city whose story begins with Osage people, a trading post, and the oil-and-cattle economy that followed. The town’s name comes from Ho’n-Mo’n-I’n, an Osage leader whose name was rendered as Hominy by white settlers. A post office opened in 1891, the railroad arrived in 1903, and the Hominy Oil Field was discovered in 1916. Farming, ranching, and petroleum shaped the city’s working history, with six local properties now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hominy’s most distinctive national story is the Hominy Indians, an all-Native American professional football team organized in 1925. The team defeated the NFL champion New York Giants in 1927, put together a 28-game winning streak, and disbanded after the 1932 season. The city’s current map adds Hominy Municipal Lake, a 165-acre reservoir built in 1940, and the Katy Trail on the former rail route. Those places connect Osage history, oil-era work, football, fishing, and the old railroad in one small city.