Discreet Biohazard Cleanup Near Crowell Afton, OK

Afton is a town in southwest Ottawa County in far northeastern Oklahoma, on U.S. Highway 60/69 - the alignment of historic U.S. Route 66.

Afton grew up in the Cherokee Nation after the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad - later part of the Frisco system - built tracks through the area to Vinita in 1871.

A post office opened in Afton in 1886, and Oklahoma historian George Shirk wrote that a Scottish railroad surveyor, Anton Aires, named the town Afton after his daughter; others credit the River Afton in Scotland, celebrated in Robert Burns's poetry.

A second railroad, the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis, arrived in 1901 and made Afton a Frisco division point and shipping center for the surrounding farm country.

Afton's population peaked at 1,518 in the 1920 census, when the town had two banks, two hotels, a brick and tile plant, a creamery and its own waterworks.

U.S. Route 66 carried travelers through Afton from 1926 until Interstate 44 bypassed the town in 1957, draining away the motor courts, cafes and service stations that had lined the highway.

The Afton Station Packard Museum is housed in a former D-X filling station built in 1937 and restored in 1999, displaying Packard automobiles and Route 66 memorabilia.

Two Afton landmarks - a Cities Service Station and the Horse Creek Bridge - were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 for their Route 66 connections.

The historic Palmer Hotel, built in 1911 during Afton's railroad boom, was destroyed in a fire on July 1, 2020, that also damaged several other downtown buildings.

Afton had 734 residents in the 2020 census, down from 1,049 in 2010, as the town settled into a quieter life as a stop for Route 66 tourists.