Moore is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The population was 62,793 at the 2020 census, making Moore the seventh-largest city in the state of Oklahoma.
Located between Oklahoma City and Norman, the city has been the site of several devastating tornadoes, with those occurring in 1999 and 2013 receiving international attention. The 3 costliest tornadoes in Oklahoma history all occurred in Moore.
History
The Moore post office was established May 27, 1889, during the Land Run of 1889 and was named for Al Moore, an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway employee. According to the town history he was a "conductor or a brakeman, lived in a boxcar at the camp and had difficulty receiving his mail. He painted his name – "Moore" – on a board and nailed it on the boxcar. When a postmaster was appointed, he continued to call the settlement Moore. When the town incorporated in 1893 the name was legalized."
The city's history notes that the community before the post office may have been called "Verbeck" by the railroad. However, other histories indicate that Verbeck was actually the original name of the nearby telegraph station "Oklahoma" which became the basis for the founding of Oklahoma City.
The community remained small until 1961, when it annexed , becoming a full-fledged city in 1962, which in turn increased its population from 1,221 in 1960 to 18,761 in 1970 and 55,081 in 2010. Moore's 1961 annexation kept it an independent city at a time when Oklahoma City through annexations increased its size from to surrounding Moore on three sides (north, east, west). Norman forms its southern border.
In 1966 the Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, after moving through various locations around Oklahoma, opened in the community.
The Moore post office turned into a branch of the Oklahoma City post office on January 7, 1972.
In the 1970s the city launched a "Smile America" campaign in which giant red, white and blue smileys were painted on the town water towers. A smiley also adorns the city's official logo (as does a water tower). Some of the water towers now have a sign that says, "Moore - Home of Toby Keith."
On September 24, 2014, at the local Vaughan Foods food processing plant, one employee was beheaded with a knife and another coworker had her throat slit and was injured, but survived. The alleged attacker, 30-year-old Alton Nolen, who was on suspension from the plant prior to the attack due to interactions with the employee who survived the attack, was shot and wounded by company owner Mark Vaughan. Nolen was convicted of murder and assault in October 2017. A jury recommended that he receive the death penalty, and, on December 15, 2017, a judge sentenced Nolen to death by lethal injection.
Geography
Moore is located just south of Oklahoma City and north of Norman, in central Oklahoma. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.52%, is water.
The city lies in the Sandstone Hills region of Oklahoma, known for hills, blackjack oak, and post oak.
Climate
Moore has a humid subtropical climate with frequent variations in weather during part of the year and consistently hot summers. Prolonged and severe droughts often lead to wildfires and heavy rainfall often leads to flash flooding and flooding. Consistent winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help temper the hotter weather. Consistent northerly winds during the winter can intensify cold periods. Severe ice storms and snowstorms happen sporadically during the winter.
Tornado history
The Oklahoma City metropolitan area (of which Moore is a part) is located in Tornado Alley and is subject to frequent and severe tornadoes and hailstorms, making it one of the most tornado-prone major metropolitan areas in the world.
Moore itself has seen nine tornadoes between 1998 and 2015, three of them big enough to claim lives and cause catastrophic damage. The city of Moore was damaged by significant tornadoes on October 4, 1998; May 3, 1999; May 8, 2003; May 10, 2010; and May 20, 2013, with weaker tornadoes striking at other times, notably May 31, 2013 and March 25, 2015. Moore is located in Tornado Alley, a colloquial term for the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. About 20 tornadoes occurred in the immediate vicinity of Moore from 1890 to 2013. The most significant tornadoes to hit Moore occurred in 1893, 1999, and 2013.