Nicoma Park, OK

Nicoma Park is an Oklahoma County city of 2,313 residents in the 2020 census, part of the Oklahoma City metro east of the city. The name combines the first three letters of G.A. Nichols’s surname with the last three of Oklahoma, and the town began as a planned poultry colony in 1926. By 1928, ninety-six homes and poultry facilities had appeared, with a cooperative building processing and shipping eggs as far as New York and California. The poultry business collapsed during the 1930s, then Tinker Air Force Base helped the community grow again in the 1940s.

Some original chicken houses became apartments, garages, or storage buildings, and many of the first homes remain. Today, the community center, Parks and Recreation Board, Friends of Nicoma Park volunteers, and seasonal events give the city places to gather, while Choctaw/Nicoma Park Schools serve most students. The local scoop is an Oklahoma City-area place whose odd name and chicken-house past are still visible in the city streets.