Waukomis, OK

Waukomis is a Garfield County town on U.S. 81, five miles south of Enid and 11 miles north of Hennessey. The 2020 census counted 1,349 residents. Waukomis Public Schools, the post office, churches, and town services serve a community whose daily rhythm still follows the wheat country around it. Enid is close enough for larger shopping, healthcare, and county business, while Waukomis keeps its own school and town routines.

The town grew after the Cherokee Outlet opened in 1893. A railroad line reached the area in 1889, the town incorporated in 1899, and wheat farmers soon gave Waukomis grain elevators, banks, and a flour mill. The 1903 fire burned about half the buildings, but the town rebuilt around the same rail-and-highway location. Today that history is less a museum piece than a useful clue: Waukomis is a small school and service town set inside Garfield County’s farm economy, with Enid just down the road when the local map runs out.