Enid
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Enid

Enid

Oklahoma wheat-plains city with huge grain elevators and Cherokee Strip land-run history.

Enid sits in the wheat plains of northwestern Oklahoma, the seat of Garfield County and the state's ninth-largest city. It grew up around grain — the massive elevators along the railroad tracks make that clear at a glance — and it remains one of the largest grain storage centres in the United States. The downtown square, anchored by the Garfield County Courthouse, has a quiet, unhurried feel that is typical of small-city Oklahoma.

There is more here than grain. The Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center is one of the better regional history museums in Oklahoma, covering the 1893 land run that founded the city in a single day. The Railroad Museum of Oklahoma occupies the restored Santa Fe freight depot. And the Enid Symphony Center, housed in a 1924 Masonic temple, hosts the state's second-oldest orchestra. Astronaut Owen K. Garriott — who flew on both Skylab and the Space Shuttle — grew up here.

Guide

Eating Out

Enid has a decent restaurant scene for a city its size, concentrated around the downtown square and along Van Buren Avenue. The usual Oklahoma staples — chicken-fried steak, barbecue, Mexican — are well represented. The downtown has seen new openings in recent years as the square has been redeveloped.

Guide

Getting There

Enid is on US Highway 412 about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Oklahoma City, roughly an hour's drive north on US-81 or US-60. There is no commercial airline service at Woodring Airport (WDG), which serves only general aviation. The nearest commercial airports are Oklahoma City Will Rogers World Airport (OKC, about 110 km south) and Tulsa International (TUL, about 160 km east).

No passenger rail serves Enid. Bus service is limited; most visitors arrive by car.

Guide

Things to Do

Enid's main cultural offerings are its two strong museums — the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center and the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma — and its downtown square, which has been modestly revitalised with a performing arts centre and some decent restaurants. The surrounding wheat plains don't offer much in the way of outdoor recreation, but the city does its civic culture well by Oklahoma small-city standards.