Area Information

Welcome  |  Climate  | Health Care  |  Education
Recreation  | Local Airport  |  Arts and Culture  |  Events and Festivals
Shopping, Dining and Doing Business  |  Lodging  |  Utilities  |  Newspapers
Radio Stations  |  Civic, Service and Faith-Based Organizations
United Way Agencies  |  Public Safety

Blackwell Welcomes You!

Blackwell, Oklahoma is the proud home of great citizens, hardworking companies, strong families, and a quality of life that is valued by most Americans. For more than a century, Blackwell has kept its eye on the future while treasuring its colorful past. The Blackwell Area Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to sustaining a strong business and industrial climate in a community where people can work, live and play.

Located in western Kay County on Interstate 35, the City of Blackwell is known as America’s Hometown. Blackwell’s population is 7,800 and serves a rural population of over 15,000. Located at the crossroads of the Interstate 35 corridor and State Highway 11, Blackwell is equidistant from Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Wichita, Kansas is only a short drive to the north.

The city is strategically located in the midwestern United States, providing easy access to other cities. Being the northern gateway community into Oklahoma, Blackwell serves regional visitors and guests with many amenities. Blackwell offers a vital location in the center of the metropolitan triangle including Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Wichita Kansas. Being established on these crossroads makes our community an exciting, dynamic region that offers business the resources needed for success. The existing industries and community organizations are helping Blackwell mature as an economic and cultural center.

Climate

Weather in Blackwell is generally temperate with mild winters. The average January temperature is 42 degrees F, and it averages 82 degrees F in July. The area receives an average of 30 inches of rainfall per year and 11 inches of snow. The average number of clear-weather days is 343.

Health Care

To keep Blackwell’s citizens healthy, the city is home to the INTEGRIS Blackwell Regional Hospital, licensed for 53 beds, three medical clinics, and a nursing home facility. Medical professionals include six medical physicians, four physician assistants, a registered nurse anesthetist, three chiropractors, two dentists, and two optometrists. Specialty services include access to numerous physicians specializing in areas including cardiology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, obstetrics, otology, oncology, urology, ophthalmology, audio recovery, pathology, and anesthesiology. Other health services available in Blackwell include physical therapy, home health care, hospice, radiology, respiratory therapy, foot clinic, and diabetes education.

Education

Blackwell’s public school system is rated among the top award-winning systems in the state. Facilities include a modern, campus-style high school for grades nine through twelve, a middle school for grades six through eight, and four elementary schools for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

Blackwell Public Schools (BPS), a recent two-time award-winning Best Practices School, is linked closely to the 21st-century through the innovative use of technology to provide integrated learning opportunities for all students. Communication and a spirit of teamwork between the home and school are vital for student success. Through the use of an Internet-based student information system, parents have instant access to student grades, attendance, and discipline data.

Blackwell Public Schools have an enrollment of 1,588 students on the six different school sites. Innovative programs to accelerate learning at all age levels include tools such as Leap Track Learning Systems and Reader & Math Rabbit for early childhood; Star Math/Reading and Focus on Reading software in the elementary and middle schools; and A+ and Skills Bank are used at the high school level. More solid programs such as Saxon Math provide the perfect balance of paper and pencil with electronic instruction. Through the use of interactive SmartBoard technology at all levels, learners are actively engaged in higher-order thinking processes. Student learning and teacher instruction have become intertwined as a prescriptive process whereby student data is used to identify individual areas of need.

Blackwell Schools implement a research-based, forward-thinking strategy for the best delivery of education. Recent facility improvements include a new Field House; and a new state-of-the-art sound system in the BPS 1,000-seat auditorium that has improved vocal/instrumental theater enhancement. It is easy to visualize the strong commitment to the areas of academics, athletics, the arts, and agriculture.

Community involvement and support have long been recognized as staples for the Blackwell Public Schools. The most recent example is the passage of an $11,700,000 bond issue to provide for a new consolidated elementary school equipped with the latest technological advancements. The Blackwell Public Foundation has collected more than $700,000 in funds used for grants to teachers. The foundation’s generosity and vision has created a protected endowment with gifts to the foundation becoming perpetual.

Since 1988, over 500 grants in the amount of $200,000 have been awarded to enhance instructional programs for Blackwell students.

Advanced placement coursework and college concurrent enrollment are encouraged for high school students. Higher education with associate degrees is available at nearby Northern Oklahoma College, nine miles south; and the University Learning Center. Four-year universities include Oklahoma State University in Stillwater (55 minutes); and the University of Oklahoma (90 minutes). The Pioneer Technology Center holds work force training and student classes in Blackwell, with the main campus in Ponca City.

While Blackwell Public Schools is proud of the recognition it has received for its many accomplishments and commitment to higher student achievement levels, the most important and rewarding feature of our schools is that we truly care about each student and are committed to their personal success and well being.

Recreation

Blackwell is located on the banks of the scenic Chickaskia River. During the fall and winter months, the Blackwell area is visited by thousands of men and women who enjoy great deer, turkey, quail, and pheasant hunting in the heart of Oklahoma wheat country.

The spring and summer seasons bring many festivals into the community, and fishing and boating enthusiasts to the Chikaskia River, Kaw Lake (15 miles from Blackwell), the Arkansas River, and the Salt Fork River. Whatever your interest – hunting, fishing, photography, running, bicycling, motorcycling, hiking, water skiing, sailing, or crafting – the Blackwell area has what you want.

When it’s time to play or relax, Blackwell offers a beautiful nine-hole public golf course. Blackwell’s nine city parks have great amenities for children and families. Memorial Park has an Olympic-size swimming pool, diving pool, tennis and basketball courts, skateboard park, and Youth Center that draws visitors from a 30-mile radius. Two parks have walking/jogging trails, more tennis courts, children’s pools, a vintage locomotive on display, and lots of fun playground equipment.

Blackwell residents also enjoy bowling, baseball, softball, batting cages, gymnastics, swimming, skateboarding, volleyball and intramural sports. The newly constructed Southwest Cupid-Blackwell Softball Complex hosts league play for children and adults, as well as area tournaments.

Blackwell’s bustling Main Street area recently had an extreme makeover with revitalization of street lighting and pedestrian sidewalk improvements.

Additional entertainment includes several Indian casinos within a 20-mile radius of Blackwell, and historical markers dating locations in history. Blackwell offers a variety of unique stores and antique shops for visitors interested in American heritage.

Local Airport

The Blackwell-Tonkawa Regional Airport is located four miles south of Blackwell on Interstate 35. This regional airport offers a fixed base operator on a 3,500-foot lighted runway that will soon be expanded. Airplane fueling, hangar space, tie-down areas, and runway access are available. The average number of flying days is 343. This airport is a major asset, growing to meet the needs of local transportation and aviation-based businesses.

Arts and Culture

Blackwell is a historic town with grand stories of oil booms, pilots, early pioneers, cowboys, Native Americans, and cattle ranches. Victorian-era homes constructed in Blackwell are described in great detail. Blackwell’s cultural needs are met through regular visits of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, local Chamber-sponsored festivals, museums, and the Kay County Free Fair.

Relive Oklahoma’s Land Run past at Blackwell’s Top of Oklahoma Museum located in the restored Electric Park Pavilion, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Blackwell’s Top of Oklahoma Historical Society keeps many vital records, historic photos, and vintage items on display.

The Blackwell Public Library, with 35,000 volumes for research and perusing stands next to the Electric Park Pavilion. The two buildings were constructed at about the same time, but the designs are very different. Blackwell’s Friends of the 1893 Land Run Society keep the historic record of the devoted families that built our region.

More museums detailing area history are located in our neighboring communities of Ponca City and Tonkawa, just a short drive away. The Northern Oklahoma College Performing Arts Center is nine miles south of Blackwell. Fifteen miles away in Ponca City are the Marland Mansion, Standing Bear Museum, Conoco Heritage Museum, and the Pioneer Woman Museum. The fully restored Statue of Lady Liberty, located in Blackwell’s Memorial Park Pool Complex area, is one of 150 originals remaining in the United States.

Events and Festivals

Blackwell’s local culture and heritage would not be complete without the outstanding events, festivals and parades that draw thousands of visitors to our community each year to mingle with the hometown citizens.

Springtime brings the annual Spring's A-Bloom Festival that includes crafts, art exhibits, food, variety show, musical entertainment, and beautiful tulips. Also in April, the annual Kay Day Event is held with people from several counties in northern Oklahoma, celebrating growth with the Kay Electric Cooperative. Kay County Water Garden Tours occur sometime in June.

Summer begins with the Streeter’s Rod Run, bringing hundreds of custom hot rods and classic cars to Memorial Park for competition and cruising in the evenings. The annual America’s Hometown Golf Tournament takes place in June. Blackwell’s July Fourth Independence Day Celebration includes a patriotic parade, family games, swimming, food, music, contests, and amazing fireworks displays.

September brings the Kay County Free Fair, the largest county fair in Oklahoma. The fair has over 100 commercial and non-profit vendors providing a huge variety of tasty food. Everything from caramel apples and funnel cakes to chicken and noodles, barbecue, and polish sausages (to name just a few) can be found on the midway! In addition, there are eight buildings full of exhibits, livestock competitions, carnival rides, and live entertainment.

The fall brings the Blackwell Homecoming Celebration, which is described as Blackwell’s Mardi Gras! Blackwell alumni return to their hometown in the hundreds from all over the United States. Reunions, parades, luncheons, football games, and the Maroon Spirit-Miss BHS Homecoming Assembly are enjoyed by the multiple generations that have called Blackwell home.

In November, Blackwell recognizes our military men and women with a Veterans’ Day Parade, a bean feed, and other activities.

Blackwell is certainly the place to be during the Christmas holiday season. Blackwell’s Hometown Holiday events occur throughout December and into the New Year. The Blackwell Area Chamber of Commerce and INTEGRIS Blackwell Regional Hospital Volunteers team up to sponsor the Hometown Holidays luncheon and Tour of Homes event. The Christmas Parade led by Santa riding atop a fire truck, is a joy for children of all ages. The Bells & Bows Lighting Displays establish a warm, traditional atmosphere. Oklahoma’s largest indoor animated Christmas display is open for tours in Blackwell’s First Presbyterian Church. The Top of Oklahoma Museum Electric Park Pavilion is dressed in Christmas lighting, bows and evergreen. The Oklahoma City Philharmonic makes Blackwell a regular location for excellent evening music in December.

More highlight events include the annual Blackwell Chamber of Commerce Banquet, Fall Festival, Easter Celebrations and Egg Hunts at the parks, Farmer’s Appreciation, the Back to School Teacher’s Coffee, and the United Way Silent Auction.

Shopping, Dining
and Doing Business

Enjoy the hospitality of Blackwell’s friendly and progressive businesses and downtown merchants. Stroll through unique stores offering a wide array of products and services to meet your personal and professional needs, and abundant, picturesque antique shops. From automobile dealers to hardware, specialty dresses to jewelry, restaurants to sporting goods, feed and seed supplies to banking, Blackwell’s commerce is alive
and well.

Retail and professional services are thriving. The downtown district is busy daily with a myriad of specialty shops and services. Blackwell’s restaurants and cafés range from fast and convenient to family sit-down meals, and with a competitive variety.

Blackwell is experiencing new growth and capital investment with new businesses, large and small, choosing to call Blackwell home. This directory lists some of the leading businesses who work to make Blackwell
a great place to live and work.

Lodging

Blackwell’s four motels give visitors and business travelers the best overnight rest and service in northern Oklahoma. The Super 8, Comfort Inn, Best Western, and the Best Way Inn have plenty of rooms at competitive rates with kings, doubles and queen beds available. Suites and continental breakfasts are among the amenities.

Utilities

Blackwell is a community dedicated to community service, faith, and making a difference through volunteer effort.

The Blackwell area has over 20 civic and service clubs to choose from, and over 35 churches offering a variety of worship settings and denominations.

United Way Agencies

Blackwell has a full-time staffed police department, fire department, and emergency medical services that are highly trained and professional.