From the “History Of Cotton County Family & Area Stories” Book
When the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache Indian country was opened for settlement August 6, 1901, a townsite was laid out on what is now the northern part of Walters and application was made for a post office. Walters actually came into being December 9, 1901 with the appointment of three townsite commissioners, George E. Taylor, J.M. Bellamy and W.R. Walters.
Walters was in the East Cache Creek bottomland and was named McKnight, for the government registrar of the land office in Lawton. When it developed that a town in another county had the same name, another name had to be selected for the rapidly growing community of 800. One group called it Walter, for Walter McKnight, the son of Mayor McKnight, the registrar, while another called it Walters, for Bill Walters, a city official and one of the organizing commissioners. Thus the new town was known by three different names until June 23, 1917. Then it took an act of Congress to change the name of the post office from Walter to Walters.
Following the establishment of the townsite things went well until the following spring, when the rains began to fall and Cache Creek began to overflow. People started to move out. A townsite was platted on 160 acres immediately to the south of McKnight and named “Townsite Addition Walters.” Just two blocks were laid out for public parks, one is now the courthouse square and the other is the school block. During the summer of 1902 nearly all the buildings were moved to the new townsite which is the present business district of Walters.
Walters threatened to become two cities early in 1903 when an uneasy situation developed over park properties required in procuring a patent. One night a group of citizens moved to the south and organized Walters Heights, which blossomed but a short time until difficulties were ironed out and the community united as one city.
The Presbyterians were the first to complete a building in the new townsite of Walters. They used the building two Sundays each month, the Methodist used it one Sunday and the Baptist one Sunday. This was a common practice in early days, with all church denominations working together in the community. In 1905 the Methodist built a frame church at the corner of Third and Oklahoma at a cost of $1400. A frame structure was built earlier by the Christian Church.
The First National Bank erected the first brick building in the new town located on Broadway where the American Legion is now. J.W. Butler erected the first water system and electric plant in Walters. The first school in the county was organized here on October 31, 1901 when the first officers for a school board were elected and was numbered “One.” Today it is still known as Walters School District No. One. The first school building was a four-room, frame structure located on the higher ground in old McKnight. A new brick school building was built in 1910 on the school block on South Broadway. The year 1930 saw the school colors change from purple to blue and white.
One of the oldest and most important businesses in Walters for years was the Pickett Brothers Truck Line started in 1902 by Jim Pickett and J.H. Clifton. Each had a team and operated a general delivery line. From this beginning, developed the Pickett Brothers Trucking enterprise run by Ernest and Henry Pickett. Clem Kinnett was an early pioneer brick mason who helped build nearly all the early brick buildings in Walters, including the First Presbyterian Church, the first brick church in Walters, First Christian Church, and Methodist Church. Dave Boyer was an early day pioneer who drew land north of Walters when it was opened for settlement. In 1924 he was elected State Senator for Cotton and Comanche County.
The first newspaper in Walters was “The Walter Democrat,” founded by J. A. Stockton. The first issue came out August 6, 1901 just 20 days after the opening of the town for settlement. By 1913 Walters had a population of 2000. In 1917 oil and gas wells were brought in northeast Cotton County. It was a great boom for Walters and Cotton County, but just a preview for the real oil boom in 1946 when additional oil was found south of Walters. Walters and Temple were in the midst of the production and were favored with a booming business and money made by a lot of people. In 1952 Cotton County had from 700 to 800 producing wells and ranked ninth in the state in production of oil. All of this added substantially to the growth of Walters.
Walters is the home of the Cotton Electric Cooperative, largest rural electrification cooperative in Oklahoma. It was August 26, 1939 the first switch was thrown that sparked the first cooperative electric current to rural homes in Southwestern Oklahoma. The event in Walters, free barbecue and speeches to mark the occasion, launched for Cotton County and all Southwest Oklahoma a program designed for better living in a progressive community. The story of the Cotton Electric Co-Op is a story of C.W. (Charley) Cox, T.H. Ketels, first co-op president, Sam Philpott, Tab Dowlen and Floy Jackson, first attorney.
“The Friendly City” is rich in history and progressive enterprise offering leadership in education, religion, industry and social life. A city of 2700 people, it has had “growing pains” on a number of occasions, but its progress has been a stable one making Walters a first-class city.
