Map of Keota town, Oklahoma

Keota is a town in northeastern Haskell County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 438 at the 2020 census, a 22.3 percent decrease over the figure of 564 recorded in 2010.

Keota town overview:
Name:	Keota town
LSAD Code:	43
LSAD Description:	town (suffix)
State:	Oklahoma
County:	Haskell County
Elevation:	502 ft (153 m)
Total Area:	0.38 sq mi (0.98 km²)
Land Area:	0.38 sq mi (0.97 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	437
Population Density:	1,162.23/sq mi (448.31/km²)
ZIP code:	74941
Area code:	539/918
FIPS code:	4039500
GNISfeature ID:	1094338

Online Interactive Map

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Keota online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Keota location map. Where is Keota town?

Keota location on the U.S. Map. Where is Keota town. — Keota location on the U.S. Map.

Keota location on the Oklahoma map. Where is Keota town. — Location of Keota in Oklahoma.

History

The town was first called “KeeOtter”, which was later changed to “Keota”. The town’s name may come from a Choctaw word meaning “the fire gone out”, referring to an entire tribe being destroyed by disease, or may be derived from “Jim Keese”, a rancher who owned the land where the townsite was located, and “Otter,” for Otter Creek, a tributary of the Sans Bois Creek which winds its way through town.

Keota was founded in 1904 by the Midland Valley Railroad’s land company, and a post office was established in 1905.

By 1911, the town supported several businesses, a hotel, and a lumberyard. The town supported local cotton growers, and was a railroad shipping point for their product.

The Great Depression caused Keota’s population to fall from 494 in 1920 to 470 in 1930, though it rebounded to 619 by 1970.

In 1971, the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System was established on the Arkansas River, about 10 miles north of Keota. A dam on the river created the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir, which reaches to Keota. This enabled the Port of Keota to be established. Light industry was beginning to be drawn to the town at the end of the twentieth century, though by 2013, little remained of the port but a boatlaunch The railway had long been abandoned.

On December 31, 1974, the nearby Otter Creek Archaeological Site (NR 74001661) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

At the time of its founding, Keota was located in Moshulatubbee District, Choctaw Nation.